Encourage your child to read out loud

Being able to read out loud, confidently and clearly, is a very useful skill that everyone will find helpful at some point in their lives. At Kumon, we think it is hugely beneficial for children to learn to and practice doing this from an early age.

A good way to encourage children to read out loud is to set a good example by reading stories to them. Reading to children from a young age is important for language development and can help to build memory, motivation and curiosity.

Hearing stories read out loud also helps children connect the written word with speech, can makes the experience of reading and storytelling more enjoyable, and is proven to help develop concentration skills.

Reading out loud can help children to better understand and contextualise the events in stories. If they are reading dialogue from a character who is happy or sad, encourage them to reflect on how this will affect what the character sounds like as they read out the words in an expressive way. Children will make conscious decisions about which words to emphasise and which tone of voice to use to effectively communicate the story. It is also lots of fun to put on different voices for all of the characters!

Reading out loud is not just for confident readers either, it has been proven to significantly help struggling readers too. By reading out loud regularly, children improve their accuracy and word recognition.

At Kumon, we ask our students to read out loud every day, but why not extend this? Ask your child to read the back of the cereal box as you are making breakfast in the morning. Give them the shopping list and ask them to read it to you as you go around the supermarket. Have them read out road signs and street names on the way to school. Short snippets of reading out loud on a regular basis can make a huge difference and in this way the child is practicing without realising.