Reading to kids is not a job that caregivers need to fulfill. Reading to kids is an opportunity for caregivers to build a long lasting positive relationship with their children. Reading is a process for kids to learn literacy, gain knowledge, and establish critical thinking skills. How can we read to kids efficiently? Here is some of our advice.
Act out. Reading should be very engaging and entertaining for both readers and listeners. When readers use different voices and present different movements and actions, listeners will be naturally attracted to the story. Try to act out when you read with your kids. It also helps them to understand the story better.
Ask questions. Questions can help children to better understand the story. Ask children before you start the reading. Show the cover of the book to the children, and ask, “What do you think this story is going to be about?” After reading, ask children questions like, “What do you think of the character? How does the character feel? What happened in the story?”
Empathize with the story. A lot of books teach social emotional learning. For example, the book ‘The Rat and The Tiger’ by Keiko Kasza is a great book for children to practice empathy. During reading the book, caregivers can ask, “ What do you think of the tiger? If you were the tiger, what would you do? How should you play with your friends? What will happen if you knock down your friend’s castle? How would you feel if your friend was not nice to you?” By asking such questions, children will learn to behave nicely in daily life.
Make predictions. Prediction games are fun. It’s a good way to test if your listeners are listening to the story attentively. It also helps children to think creatively. In the middle of the story, readers can close the book, and ask, “ What will happen next? Can you guess what will happen at the end?”
Write your own version of the story. Believe it or not, children love to write stories. Whether they can write or not, caregivers should encourage them to make up their own stories. If a child can not write, caregivers should write stories down when children dictate their stories. Ask children, “If you were the writer, how would you write the story?” or a simpler version, “ Do you like the ending? If you were the author, how would you write the ending?”
Retell the story with children’s own words. Retelling is an important skill for children to master. Children comprehend the story by retelling it. If a child uses his/her own words to retell the story, he/she not only practices the comprehension skills, but also the literacy skills. Retelling a story is a good strategy to help children learn to read, comprehend, and develop future story writing skills.
For young listeners, such as babies or young toddlers, we suggest reading those interactive books so they can do the activities with caregivers together. Make sure you always maintain good eye contact with your listeners, and know when to stop. It is always ok to stop in the middle of a story. The most important part is that you help your child to develop an interest in reading. Whether it’s 5 minutes reading per day or 50 minutes reading per day, as long as you have a reading routine, your child will appreciate it and get benefited in the long run.
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