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We live in a digital age with an increasingly accelerating pace. We instant-message; we text; we email and make cell phone calls; we post on Facebook; and we read our books, magazines, and newspapers or Kindles or iPads. This is the world our grandchildren live in, and they've embraced it. In this fast-paced, digital era, is there still a place for the old-fashioned idea of reading out loud to a child, and sharing quiet, uninterrupted moments? Yes – more than ever!
As we are often told, expert studies consistently find that reading to children, and with them, is a critical part of developing literacy. No matter our technological advances, the basic skills of reading and writing are as important as ever. We need language to communicate, and reading with children increases their comprehension of, and fluency in, written language. It also builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills.
An Experience Like No Other
And that's only a small portion of the benefits. According to the Family Literacy Foundation, the experience of reading together is equally important. When a parent, grandparent, or other caring adult reads aloud to a child, it builds their self-esteem and boosts communication between family members. Children love the sound of language long before they grasp the meaning of the words on the page. Reading aloud bridges the gap between the language they hear and the words that convey it. Children also learn positive behavior patterns and positive attitudes about themselves and others through reading. They learn about the world around them, and develop imagination, empathy, and creativity.
Most parents today, however, would admit that reading aloud to a child, every night, can be a strain on an already overcrowded family schedule. That's where grandparents come in. A grandparent can step in and provide a child with the warmth and closeness of the reading experience. However, today’s children may require something more than the classic children’s books we knew and loved. There's a lot of competition for a child’s attention: television, the internet, and video games can all seem more enticing than a “once upon a time” fairytale.
But we can exercise creativity and thoughtfulness in choosing reading materials that can engage a child’s particular interests and transform a reluctant reader into an enthusiastic one. Nonfiction is a great resource for young readers, one that is often overlooked. After all, one of the most frequent questions any child asks is "Why?" Nonfiction holds the answer. Many young readers are more interested in nonfiction than fiction. Books about Bigfoot, monster trucks, famous inventions, failed experiments, or sports entice readers who might have thought books had nothing to offer.
A Monthly Stretch
And don’t forget magazines, which may revolve around a particular theme (such as Click and Ask, children's magazines that explore science and investigation, or AppleSeeds, which explores history and culture). Magazines have the added advantage of currency; a subscription will bring a year’s worth of new and interesting reading material, without having to go to the library or the bookstore. Magazines also offer the opportunity for shorter read-aloud experiences.
The experts also remind us that just because children are able to read on their own, that does not mean that reading aloud is no longer valuable for them. Magazines such as Odyssey, which explores scientific topics; Dig, which focuses on archaeology; or Muse, which explores a variety of topics with a fun, quirky approach, may be a little beyond a particular child’s reading level, but strongly appeal to their interests and provide an incentive for tackling more difficult material.
When you read children stories that interest them, but are beyond their reading ability, you encourage them to stretch and improve their skills.
We may live in a digital world, but we still need human interaction. What better way to show your grandchildren how much you care about them than to share the closeness and communication that can only be had by reading together? As the U.S Department of Education reminds us, children who are read to grow to love books. Over the years, these children will have memories to treasure, of stories that made them laugh and stories that made them cry. They'll remember having shared these times with someone they love, and they'll anticipate with joy a time when they will be able to read to children themselves.
Reading together builds memories, and that's perhaps the main reason it is still so important today.
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