Late Mommy's ABC Reading Blog

What parent doesn’t love cuddling up with their children to read a favorite book.  What a special time it is, just your and your child (or children), sharing some quiet, bonding time.  Those are special times, to be sure.  They are special in another way, too…they are building your child’s literacy skills!

Becoming a Nation of Readers,” a national report by the Commission on Reading, says, “The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success is reading aloud to children.”  Those are strong words.  Reading aloud has several benefits.  Reading a variety of books aloud to children expands their knowledge of the world, improves their vocabulary and helps them become more familiar with the written word.  It is also important that they hear strong, fluent readers.  This improves their fluency and gives them an appropriate model of what “good” reading is.  And, of course, the more they are read to, the more interest your children will have in reading.  Yes, you are creating a reader!

Studies have shown that reading to your children for as little as 15 minutes a day can positively influence children toward becoming lifelong readers.  Did you know that reading aloud benefits children from infancy up through their teen years?  Surveys among middle- and high schoolers tell us that one thing they miss the most is being read to!  Children’s listening levels are not the same as their reading levels.  Usually, listening levels are higher.  This allows for greater possibilities when choosing what to read.

I”ve included two excellent resources for reading aloud to your children.  Read Aloud America is an organization that “promotes literacy, encourages a love of reading in adults and children, and increases children’s prospects for success in school and life.”  This site offers tips for reading aloud, recommended books, and the history of this organization.  Click onwww.readaloudamerica.org for the complete picture.

The Read-Aloud Handbook: Sixth Edition by Jim Trelease is a great resource to have at your fingertips.  It stresses the importance of reading to your children and educates the reader of what happens if there is too little reading.  It also tells us how to select books to read to children and is an excellent reference for book selection.  Here’s a link to the book on Amazon:  http://tinyurl.com/yhu222b.

So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to read to my son before he goes to bed!

Have any of you ever read Love You Foreverby Robert Munsch to your kids?  I bet you have.  I had a “Love You Forever” moment tonight.  My son fell asleep in my bed, watching TV.  I picked him up in my arms, cradling him like I did when he was a baby.  I carried my now-six-year-old into his big-boy bed, holding him for a few seconds before tucking him in.  The book’s repeating verse went through my head:

I’ll love you forever/I’ll like you for always/As long as I’m living/My baby you’ll be

If you have this book, go read it.  If you don’t have it, go get it and read it (you can click on the image to order).  I dare you to read it without crying!