Do's and Don'ts of Read Alouds

In today’s post, my sweet friend, Sarah Chesworth, is sharing her tips for making the most of your reading time with your child. Sarah is a former elementary school teacher and new mom. She is passionate about early childhood education and loves helping teachers and parents make learning fun and meaningful for their little ones. She believes that reading aloud is one of the most powerful things that parents can do with their children, and as a speech language pathologist, I couldn’t agree more! Sarah has so many fresh ideas and a wealth of knowledge. On her website, you can find the the most amazing library of free resources. She is constantly adding to her library, so I highly encourage you to sign up here and get notified when new resources are added! Here are the wonderful tips for read aloud that she shared with me:

Do’s

Choose books that are age appropriate for your child and appeal to their interests. I don’t get caught up in reading levels, but there are going to be books that are better for babies and books that are better for older children. Most books will have an age range on them to help guide you.
Keep books throughout your home that your child can easily grab and read. I love shopping for books at used book sales. I have found books as cheap as 25 cents each! These are the books that I usually keep around the house for my daughter because I am comfortable with her handling them. Books that are special stay at a higher level and I bring them down when we can enjoy them together.
Reread favorite stories. I’m sure every parent can name a few books that they have read a few hundred times. Repetition is important for your child’s development and it’s great to enjoy a favorite story over and over.
Introduce book vocabulary. When I was in the classroom I always told students who the author and illustrator of each book we read was. They quickly learned the meaning of both words and would look at the cover of each book we read to see who wrote it and who illustrated it. They were really impressed when the same person did both jobs! Here are a few things you can think about mentioning when you read:
- “The title of this book is…”
- “________ is the author of this book. That means they wrote the words.”
- “________ is the illustrator of this book. That means they created the pictures.”
- “This is the title page. It tells us the title of the book one more time.”
- “This book has a dedication page. The author was thinking of someone special when they wrote this story.”
- “This is the spine of the book. It tells us the title of the book so we can find it easily on our bookshelf.”

You will be amazed at how quickly your child picks up on the vocabulary associated with books by just using one of these talking points with every read aloud. Pretty soon it will become a habit.

Don’ts

DON’T forget about non-fiction books! It’s important for little ones to be exposed to non-fiction, or true books, too! I love pairing a fiction and a non-fiction book together. For example, I might read a Pete the Cat book and then a non-fiction book about cats. You can talk with your child about which book is true and which one is not true. Babies and toddlers especially love reading books that have real pictures of things they see in their everyday life!
DON’T just save read alouds for bedtime. Any time is a good time for reading! Keep books in the car, bathroom, and the diaper bag to encourage reading on the go!
DON’T just read the words. Did you know that there are actually three ways to read a book? You can read a book by looking at the pictures, reading the words or retelling a familiar story. All three ways are powerful!
DON’T put the pressure on your child (or yourself) to sit still and listen to a book. Little ones rarely sit still! They can still listen and enjoy a book while doing something with their hands or even taking a bath.
DON’T forget to model reading yourself. Make reading a priority in your home and let your child see you read regularly!