Every parent has heard that it’s great to read out loud to kids, and I happen to find this a particularly enjoyable part of my day, BUT I wanted to know: what are the actual benefits? Besides the snuggles. 🥰
Some of these findings were surprising to me, but others were things I already have experienced reading aloud to my own kids. Here are 20 actual benefits of reading out loud to children!
20 Benefits of Reading Out Loud to Children
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Reading out loud helps children to understand the context, structure, and content of language. (Dowdell, Pitts and Torgesen)
Helping to point out images in picture books, and reading with a certain amount of inflection in chapter books helps with this.
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Reading out loud to children promotes language and vocabulary development. (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
Frequent exposure to different words expands everyone’s vocabulary! As my kids have gotten older, I’ve continued reading aloud. We have all learned new (or often old!) words together to improve our vocabulary.
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It improves their listening and communication skills.
Yes! Sometimes I had to give my more active kids something to fidget with while we read, but I was amazed in the early years how the more we read together the more my kids seemed to be able to listen.
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Being read to encourages children to become fluent readers.
More being read to as a child = more likely to enjoy reading their whole life. Few things bring me more joy than seeing my kids pick up books and start reading on their own and it’s even sweeter when they are reading to each other!
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It enhances the connection between parent and child, leading to improved behavior and attitude.
(Mol, Bus and DeVries). I have a theory this is because taking the time to read out loud to kids = quality time.
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It promotes cognitive and brain development.
(National Science Foundation) More reading out loud = healthy brains and thinking patterns! Listening to a read aloud is honing the hear & comprehend skill, while reading to oneself is a see & comprehend skill. Both are valuable!
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It expands the scope of imagination and creativity.
(Stanislavsky) The more variety in the read alouds, the greater scope of imagination & creativity the kids have the potential to develop!
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It aids in intellectual development, including cognitive skills such as attention, memory, and problem-solving
(Chae and Cutting). See above 😉 It’s amazing how something as simple as reading aloud to a child can set them up for so much cognitive success!
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It improves a child’s ability to understand and express emotions.
Books make us cry, laugh, groan, sometimes even yell! Have you ever experienced a revelation about an emotion of your own because of the way an author described a character’s feelings? It is not uncommon for my emotional literacy to increase when I read books!
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It hone’s a child’s cognitive flexibility (Kjeldsen)
Plot twist! Changing dialogue. Illustrations. No illustrations. Hearing new words. Re-reading beloved books over & over. Books keep kids’ brains active and engaged.
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It can be an enjoyable bonding activity for parent and child (Mol, Bus and DeVries).
This is probably one of my favorite reasons on this list. Snuggles 🥰
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It improves academic performance (Lau et al. 2011).
Probably because of the improved vocabulary, positive parental relationships, and improved cognitive skills!
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It can increase a child’s empathy and social understanding (Gottlieb).
There’s a reason we don’t read our kids garbage books. This is that reason! We absorb the books we read and I want the kids to feel deeply and let it change them. None of that “my sister is stinky” garbage on our book shelves.. only the good ones where the siblings are best friends!
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It has been linked to increased levels of happiness.
See: Snuggles 🥰 above!
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It encourages a love of reading and lifelong learning.
If you can read, you can learn how to do pretty much ANYTHING. And if as parents we love to read to our kids, they are more likely to be readers and STAY readers.
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It helps children develop a sense of imagination, curiosity, and creativity.
Creativity doesn’t always mean art, it can mean that someone is creative in the way they take on a problem. Imagination and creativity are vital for problem solving.
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It helps to develop a child’s sense of rhythm and intonation.
I would add a disclaimer that this is only if the parent or caregiver pauses at commas, stops at periods, etc. Parents don’t have to be performers to read aloud, but for this benefit to actually take root, parents must be in tune with the text.
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It provides an opportunity to teach important life lessons and values.
I’d much rather my kids learn about the hard lessons of defeating an evil wizarding overlord from Harry Potter than experience it for themselves. 😜
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It engages children in a positive and meaningful activity.
Reading out loud is NOT busy work. It’s together time. It’s quality time. It’s enjoying a great story together time!
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It establishes a daily reading routine, leading to long-term academic success (Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report).
Make it a part of your daily routine. Make reading out loud something you do EVERY day! 5 minutes counts!
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