The Importance of Reading to Your Children at Home

Contributed by expert contributor Kirsty Taylor from Al Forsan Nursery, Aldar Academies.

When asked, ‘What do you expect your children to learn at nursery/school’, most parents will answer ‘reading and writing’. Whilst these are important skills for children to develop themselves to be independent learners, there are a series of steps that children need to take to reach independence and efficiency in these skills.

Let us focus on reading. There are many things you can do to help your child at home to encourage and develop their reading skills, before they can even recognize letters or decode words; the best thing you can do is to schedule regular shared story time with your child at home.

Even from a very young age, your child will be able to look at pictures and listen to your voice, they may even be able to respond to simple requests such as ‘point to the ..’ or ‘where is the …’, these simple actions mean that your child is beginning to understand the importance of language and is the first stepping stone to becoming a reader.

Before children are even aware of letters and words on paper or can begin to decode words, they should be exposed to books being read aloud to them. By sharing books aloud, your child’s imagination and creativity will be stimulated, and they are also becoming familiar with the way different words sound.

Reading regularly with your child boosts their self-esteem. They will look forward to this special time each day and bonds between adult and child will be deepened. Reading a variety of different books to your child will help to build up their vocabulary, and by learning more words will develop their communication and language skills which in turn helps them to build skills in many other areas of their learning.

Read aloud with your child. It is so important and is a really special time that can be created between you and your child. So, grab your blanket and a teddy and snuggle down . Share a story and watch as your child’s Communication and Language and Literacy skills develop!

Head over to QiDZ to find out more about Al Forsan Nursery!

Contributed by expert contributor Kirsty Taylor from Al Forsan Nursery, Aldar Academies.

 

 

 

 

 

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