When I started teaching Kindergarten I was given this book called (affiliate links for your convenience) Reading Magic by Mem Fox. I read it before stepping foot in my classroom, thought it was good, and went about teaching Kindergarten with those skills in my teacher’s toolbox.
It wasn’t until many years later that I truly and completely saw the value in that book.
The incredible power of doing the one simple thing mentioned in that book was practically immeasurable. I have seen first hand little ones who have benefited from it, and those who have suffered from a lack of it.
(affiliate links for your convenience)
When kids start Kindergarten there is a difference in vocabulary of 4000 words between the strongest student and the weakest. 4000 words!
The advantages that the children have with such an advanced vocabulary are tremendous. They are perceived as brighter, so immediately (and subconsciously by many adults) given more leadership opportunities, more advanced learning opportunities, and more challenging activities.
These little ones with such a vast vocabulary have such a wealth of knowledge to draw from. They understand new concepts much quicker and easier, as they have such a strong foundation to build on.
Since other adults perceive them (and treat them) as being bright, these children perceive themselves as bright and confidence soars.
So what is this magic?
What is the one thing you can do right now so your child thrives at school?
Read Aloud to them.
I know what you are thinking … That?! I know that. I do that already!
But do you really?
There are periods of my life when things get so full, busy, and hectic. Days when bedtime stories are so rushed and not even enjoyable to me, so certainly not to my little ones. Reading to my little ones has been seen as just one more thing to check off the list before I put them to bed.
That is not Reading Aloud.
I am happy to say, that the vast majority of the time, I do in fact Read Aloud.
Reading aloud is making books come alive. It is telling a story with the authors words, but your unique voice and expressive eyes.
It is looking at the pictures and giggling as you race to find the striped zebra, fluffy bear, or enormous elephant.
Reading aloud is reading a story so many times that you fall in love with it and you and your little one know it by heart. Your little one will be filling in words, reading whole sentences, or even the entire book, by heart.
Reading aloud is a magical time that needs to be seen as absolutely necessary, but treated as a complete joy and pleasure. Because it really is.
Truly, what else is more important in my life than spending quality, bonding, one on one time with my kids?
Nothing.
And the fact that when I am having this magical time, I am also ensuring their literacy success at school? Well that is just icing on the cake.
There is really no right or wrong way to read aloud, as long as you are engaged in the words you are reading and little one you are reading it with. However, there are some games and read aloud activities that can make the reading magic even stronger.
To begin, it is important that you read for the love of reading. And you are reading good books. Books that are interesting to your little one, that have a lovely rhythm, and that are developmentally appropriate. A quick trip to the bookstore or library and chat with a librarian or bookstore owner will ensure you are on the right track. One of our favourites is this Dr Seuss book with 6 of his best stories inside. Full of rhyming and rhythm and great for young children.
(While we are on the topic of books – do you have the best one of all?)
Once you have a few good books, get familiar with them. Take your little one on a ‘picture walk’. Look at each page and find some fascinating things in the pictures. Ask your little one if she can find certain animals, and have her do the same for you.
When you do this, you might just find a big bear. Later, when you read the story, you might read a sentence about a tremendous bear. Just like that, your little one is being exposed to another word for big. Her understanding for what that word means just grew — tremendously.
Then read the story. Read it and play. Let your little ones stop you to ask questions, or to really study the pictures. Read it all the way through, or just a page. Whatever feels right.
If it is a good book and your little one loves it, you will read that book again and again. Many good books for children have lovely rhythms and rhymes in them. This makes it easy for little ones to predict words that are coming, and helps them join in with the book once it becomes familiar.
Once children begin school and begin formal instruction on learning to read, they will have this immense wealth of knowledge on books, print, and sentences. They will know that books are to make sense, that pictures make sense, and that often things rhyme.
This knowledge is so beneficial when children are learning to read.
In fact, one of the books I read states that a child’s vocabulary when entering school is a predictor of reading comprehension in Grade 3. Pretty powerful stuff!
So there you have it. The one simple thing you can do right now to ensure your child thrives at school: Read aloud.
Awesome, isn’t it?
And if you are looking for EVEN MORE simple, easy and every day things to do to get your little one ready to SOAR in school – you need to check out my video course! Play into Kindergarten Readiness:
Thanks for reading friends, hope you are having a lovely week.
Looking for more ways to get your little ones ready for school?
A whole YEAR of Educational Quiet Bin Ideas
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What your child really needs to know before school
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I was told about ‘Reading Magic’ by Mem Fox when my oldest child was just 6 weeks old. I immediately purchased it and have loved this book for many years now. I still pick it up for inspiration now and then. It is the gift I give at baby showers with a few gorgeous books to get new parents started.
My children ADORE books and I place much of their advanced literacy skills down down to being read aloud often to. Even though they are School age and can read to themselves I still read to them every night. It has been on of my greatest joys as a parent to do this.
I babysit our granddaughter. Her parents work and don’t come until late. I am not sure they much time to read to her so I include all the reading aloud I can during the day. She loves it and has a collection of her favorites and we have to read just those over and over. ?
My 21mo will not sit still enough for me to read more than 2 pages…What do you suggest? I know reading to them is important, but I need some tricks…is it when I’m trying to read to them? Is bedtime, after dinner better than others? Is it the actual books I’m reading? What do you suggest for a 21mo? Thanks in advance!
Hi Winnie! That’s a great question. Have you tried just flipping through books and playing games, not actually reading the words? You could open a book and say, “Wow! Look at all of the animals. I see a brown cow eating grass – can you find the cow?” and then flip to the next page saying, “I wonder if there will be a cow on this page …” and so on. Or trying to find all red items on a page, “Let’s see what is red on this page … red … red … Oh! I see a red apple! What else … that wagon is red!”. You could also make up very simple stories to go with the pictures keeping it short and sweet, “Once there was a great big cow (flip the page) He was so very hungry (flip) He found a red apple but it was way to high up in a tree for him to reach … and so on, with just a few words to each page. Perhaps this will help?
This is absolutely spot on! My firstborn was extremely wriggly and I had a hard time reading to her. She would tear pages, even chew up the board books… Eventually, I abandoned the traditional method of reading, and simple point/name the objects on a page, whilst my daughter kept flipping the pages! She’s 4 now, is starting to read the words that she knows, and absolutely adores our bedtime book sessions.
I agree with Sarah, but also, children don’t need to be still when you’re reading to them for them to get the benefits. For toddlers just playing with books, seeing the titles, knowing which way is up or how pages are turned from right to left, but read left to right–those are literacy skills. Also, don’t underestimate the value of just talking with your children in a rich vocabulary–don’t need to be still for that either.
Love this post! My little one is very wriggly and active, but we’ve read to him just before bedtime from when he was about 3-4 months – just old enough to sit up in our laps to look at the page! Dr Seuss books worked really well for us at this age, as they have such a captivating rhyming pattern. It’s really paying off as he has a great vocabulary and was an early talker. He loves having his bedtime story and I hope this will stand him in good stead when he starts school. It’s the one time of day when mine sits still and listens well. His favourite book for a while was ‘Alfie Gets in First’ – in fact a lot of the Alfie books by Shirley Hughes. I think he relates well to the little boy who looks just like him, exploring the world just like he does.
Winnie, perhaps you could try reading a couple of pages each night at a consistent point in their routine – we do teeth, change into pyjamas, story then lights out. If you do it every night you might find attention span gradually extends to 3-4 pages and before you know it it’ll be a whole book and you’ll be having arguments about how many stories they’re allowed! (happens in my house now at 27 months!)
Try having books all around you as well – make them a normal part of your every day life. I find if I keep a stack of story books and word books in the lounge (like Usborne First Words) it’s easy to grab them in a quiet moment, or to encourage a bit of quiet time after lunch now that he’s dropping his lunchtime nap. I keep a stack in the car and change them every now and again, and he keeps himself amused looking at the pictures when we’re driving.
Anyone in the UK – check out the Book People as they do amazing packs of books e.g. 10 good quality, well-written children’s paperbacks for £10-12.
Winnie, what I learned with my kids is that they don’t have to be sitting still or even paying direct attention while you read. Make the book animated as much as you can, choose books that you think they will like and if you can, turn them around so they are facing out (like a teacher or librarian would) while you read. That way they can move around and aren’t forced to sit while you read to them.
This is how I read to my kids pretty much as soon as they were mobile, and all 4 are avid readers and do very well academically. Eventually they will get to the point they are interested in what you read and will want to sit with you, but my 6 year old still occasionally gets restless and when he does, we go back to the old method of reading. He will stop and look at his favorite parts and often read them for me.
The important part is to make books and reading a natural part of their lives and yours. Teach them that the words in books make stories and help them come alive. Your child will pick up on that love and excitement, even if they won’t sit still for it.
I just LOVED this article! My mom read to me and my siblings a ton while I was growing up, and I’ve felt the difference that it’s made in my life. Now I run a children’s book subscription service to try to help other children fall in love with reading and I love reading articles by other people who are similarly passionate! Thanks for sharing!
Great article. I’m a teacher and see the difference reading makes in the classroom. Loved reading this article.
Love this! The beauty of the art of reading aloud is that you don’t have to have any special skills. Everyone can do it. We think reading “silly” makes it more entertaining for little ones. Yay!
I am a retired teacher and I totally agree with your post. Kids come to school with a 500 to 5,000 word vocabulary. Besides the benefits you mentioned, to be successful in college, you need a 20,000 word vocabulary. Children entering school with a 500 word vocabulary acquire new words at a much slower pace than those with a large vocabulary. Learning an additional 15,000 words is possible if you start with 5,000 at age 5, nearly impossible if you start with 500.
I also advise parents that when they speak to children, they use an adult vocabulary, and define and discuss words as they occur. My son used to complain to me that I used too many 25 cent words. I replied that, “I read a lot and that is just how I speak.” When he was a freshman in college, he came home one day and said, “Mom, I got it. I know why you always used such big words with me. My vocabulary is so much larger than other kids in my class!”
Keep reading, keep talking, and keep explaining. It makes a huge difference for kids!
Wonderful Ada, thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom.
Thanks for the awesome tips,where do I get this book and many more? I live in Sharjah.
Thanks ADA for the comment,it’s helpful as my husband always complained I used vocabularies meant for adults for kids.(he will read this in some minuits.
My 5 years is a great speaker and understands words and ask a lot of questions in every spoken sentence even from strangers and guest,but we are struggling with her writing skills,she uses left and fines it difficult to write,any tips about this?
Thanks for all you do.
I love your posts.
Thank you for your kind comment – it sounds like you are doing so much for your daughter. As far as writing for a 5 year old, I would suggest strengthening her hands in many other ways – rolling playdough, playing with little sticks/rocks/clothespins – building those fine muscles and strengthening those little fingers. I am so happy you like my posts, you can get my book is available on createspace, and they ship worldwide – thank you! Here is the link: https://www.createspace.com/5608952