Reading Aloud to Children Increases Vocabulary

Home / Reading Aloud to Children Increases Vocabulary - July 18, 2015 , by easyreaders

Studies show reading aloud to children increases vocabulary more than talking. If you’re a good reader, you’re smart. If you’re not, you’re not smart, at least not book smart anyway. That’s basically how todays culture views the skill of reading. So it’s not difficult to see why child psychologists want parents reading aloud to children. There are just too many benefits to pass up.

Reading and Test Taking.

Tests in school revolve around your ability to read, well, except some math tests. And if you’ve ever found reading a bit of a challenge you will know how mentally exhausting test taking can be. It’s part of the reason why Massaro, professor of psychology at the University of California, advises parents to read picture books to their children at an early age. It will increase their vocabulary, reading skill, and make test taking much easier and less exhausting.

Increases Vocabulary.

Yes, children do learn language from speech. But reading aloud to children reveals words they would have otherwise never been exposed to. And reading childrens books exposes them to words adults normally do not use, like “aghast,” or “grimace.” So reading new words in their proper contexts increases their literacy more than talking.

The Matthew Effect

You may have heard the phrase, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” It’s called the matthew effect, and studies show that it also applies to reading. The faster kids learn how to read, and broaden their vocabulary, the faster they learn in school. And sadly the opposite is also true for children who are held back from the rich language found in children’s books. “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

Massaro’s study explains how this is true. Reading to children improves their vocabulary, literacy, and preps them for the competitive nature of schooling. It helps stop them getting mentally exhausted during tests, or insecure from reading aloud in front of the entire class. And overall, it improves the childs well being by increasing their ability to express themselves by finding the right words for the right situations.

You can read more about this story here : http://edsource.org/2015/study-says-reading-aloud-to-children-more-than-talking-builds-literacy/82045

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *