Read Aloud Tips for Parents

Effective storybook reading is an interactive process. Taking time to discuss and clarify difficult concepts during the reading session can improve comprehension and develop, and interest in the story. Children learn that understanding text is a process that occurs before, during, and after reading.

Before
• Preview the book and practice reading it.
• Introduce the title, author, and illustration.
• Tell briefly what the story is about.

During
• Hold the books so your child can see the words
  and illustrations.
• Vary your tone, volume, and pitch as you read.
• Pause occasionally to explain, comment, or look at
  the illustrations.

After
• Discuss the characters and what happened in the story.
• Help your child relate the story to something personal
  or another story.

• Establish a regular time and place. Reading every day for 15 minutes
  is more beneficial than reading for a longer period of time on a less
  frequent schedule.

• Encourage children to pick up their own books to read together by
  placing them at eye level and making them easily accessible.

• Cuddle up together and encourage "pre-readers" to repeat words
  and phrases as you read to them.

• Read favorite books over and over again. Children love to do this,
  and it is important because it helps them remember words, phrases,
  and even the sequence of a story so that they can begin to "read"
  it on their own.

• Be an expressive reader-it takes practice! When you read everyday,
  your skills as a storyteller will improve.

• Keep reading aloud as your kids grow. Until junior high school, most
  children are better at listening than they are at reading.