Why is Reading Aloud So Important?

Why is Reading Aloud So Important?

                                             Building A Better World

An interview with Mary McLeod Bethune

“Bethune: My mother kept in rather close contact with the people she served as a slave. She continued to cook for her master until she [saved enough to purchase] five acres of land. [Her former master] deeded her five acres. The cabin, my father and brothers built. It was the cabin in which I was born. She kept up these relations. Very often I was taken along [to my mother's job] after I was old enough, and on one of these occasions I remember my mother went over to do some special work for this family of Wilsons, and I was with her.

I went out into what they called their play house in the yard where they did their studying. They had pencils, slates, magazines and books. I picked up one of the books and one of the girls said to me -- "You can't read that -- put that down. I will show you some pictures over here," and when she said to me, "You can't read that -- put that down," it just did something to my pride and to my heart that made me feel that some day I would read just as she was reading. I did put it down, and followed her lead and looked at the picture book that she had. But I went away from there determined to learn how to read and that some day I would master for myself just what they were getting and it was that aim that I followed.

One day we were out in the field picking cotton and the mission teacher came from Maysville, five miles away, and told mother and father that the Presbyterian church had established a mission where the Negro children could go and that the children would be allowed to go. I was among the first of the young ones to enroll, and... so it seemed to me.

That first morning on my way to school I kept the thought uppermost, "Put that down -- you can't read," and I felt that I was on my way to read and it was one of the incentives that fired me in my determination to read. And I think that because of that I grasped my lessons and my words better than the average child and it was not long before I was able to read and write”.

Charles S. Johnson, [abridged] (1940) in Mary McLeod Bethune: Building A Better World: Essays and Selected Documents. McCluskey, Audrey Thomas and Smith, Elaine M., eds., (University of Indiana Press, Bloomington, IN, 1999): pg. 36.

Tips to Encourage a Love of Books and Reading in Young Children

• Hearing stories helps children learn new words.
• Helps develop children’s speaking and listening skills.
• Reading experts tell us that children need to hear 1,000 stories aloud before they can begin to read themselves.
• Reading aloud with a child creates important cuddling time for you and your child.

What Kind of Books do I Choose?

• Look for books with repetition: it helps children feel smart when they can figure out what comes next. 
• Use books that have lots of rhyme and rhythm which is soothing and helps to calm children.
• Non-fiction (books about real subjects) help children relate to the world around them.
• Look for bright, beautiful illustrations that will ‘catch’ your child’s attention.

How do I Get Started?

• Get a Public Library card!
• Relax and enjoy yourself: the best way to help a child learn to love reading is to love it yourself.
• Read with enthusiasm.
• Read slowly and enjoy your time together with the book
• Ask questions about the story as you go along.
• Read books over and over again: children love hearing their favorite stories again.

  Read to your child 20 minutes each day!