New study makes suggestions for getting the most out of reading with your child.
“There is nothing more powerful than your voice, your tone, and the way you say the words,” said Wiles. “When I was a child, my dad read to me and while that was helpful and I enjoyed it, what we are finding is that when parents read with their children instead of to them, the children are becoming more engaged and excited to read.”
Engaging the child means figuring out what the child is thinking and getting them to think beyond the words written on the page. While reading with them, anticipate what children are thinking. Then ask questions, offer instruction, provide examples and give them some feedback about what they are thinking.
“One of the things that I really hope for, and have found, is that these things spill over into other areas,” said Wiles. “So you start out reading, asking open-ended questions, offering instruction and explaining when all of the sudden you aren’t reading at all and they start to recognize those things they have seen in the books. And that’s really powerful.” MORE