Reading Aloud to Children

Reading aloud to children is a valuable part of early literacy for the preschool child. I recently listened to a Read Aloud Lesson by Mem Fox that discussed not only how important reading aloud is, but how important it is to read aloud well. She says that the more engaged the children are when being read to, the more interested they will be in books and pretending to read. This is such a great way to enhance your child's early literacy, and it can be a very fun experience for the reader as well!

An important aspect of being a good storyteller is using the words on the page to guide the way you read. Instead of just idly reading through the words on the page if you have already told this story a hundred times, think about what you can do to keep a child interested and invested in the tale. One suggestion that Mem Fox has is to speak a little faster in times of drama and excitement, and to speak slower when building suspense or indicating sadness. You can also use a higher voice to express excitement and to voice smaller characters. A lower voice will help you portray frightening parts of a story or big loud voices for giants or large animals. These small changes in your storytelling will help the child get a feel for the story past simply hearing the words. It may also keep you engaged with a story the tenth time through as you think of these storytelling techniques!