Fig 1. Strategies for Interactive Reading

Children enjoy spending time with their parents while actively listening to their parents reading storybooks or telling interesting stories to them. Is there more to interactive reading between parents and children than just enjoyment? In this post, we will discuss the importance of interactive reading!

Interactive reading is a form of positive experience that can enhance children’s language learning and reading abilities. During interactive reading, both readers (e.g., the parent and the child) are encouraged to ask questions and talk about the book. This allows children to become active participants in the reading activity and helps adults to check children’s understanding of the book content (WebJunction, Online Computer Library Center, 2018).

One important aspect of interactive reading is the opportunity for children to learn the articulation of words (Horowitz-Kraus & Hutton, 2015; Werker & Tees, 1984). Exposing a child to verbally read and listen to sounds of the word is equally as important as letting them understand the meaning of the word. Through interactive reading, a child can learn the sounds of words accurately. In addition, other components of reading such as semantics (i.e., meanings of words) and syntax (i.e., grammar) are also improved through interactive reading.

Research suggests that children’s reading and language development can significantly improve with interactive reading (Saracho and Spodek, 2010). Additionally, children may become more interested in reading and being read to. Interactive reading can also become a shared family activity that could help to strengthen the parent-child emotional bonds. There are also potential benefits (Shah-Wundenberg et al., 2013) of parents simply reading together with their children for 10 to 15 minutes daily or several times a week – a tip for busy parents!

In conclusion, interactive reading between parents and children is a helpful tool that can help children improve their language and reading abilities (Horowitz-Kraus & Hutton, 2015). It is okay to start out small (e.g., 10 minutes before dinner or before bed) with a simple book (e.g., have your child pick out their favourite book from school or a library), and slowly build up towards making interactive reading a daily activity. Check out this guide by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) on interactive reading for young children!

References

Horowitz-Kraus, T., & Hutton, J. S. (2015). From emergent literacy to reading: how learning to read changes a child’s brain. Acta Paediatrica, 104(7), 648–656. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.13018https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.13018

Saracho, O. N., & Spodek, B. (2010). Parents and children engaging in storybook reading. Early child development and care, 180(10), 1379-1389.

Shah-Wundenberg, M et al., (2013). Parents helping their children learn to read: The effectiveness of paired reading and hearing reading in a developing country context. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 13(4), 471-500. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798412438067

WebJunction, Online Computer Library Center. (2018). Interactive Reading. https://www.webjunction.org/content/dam/WebJunction/Documents/webJunction/supercharged-storytimes/module1/interactive-reading-handout.pdf

Werker, J. F., & Tees, R. C. (1984). Cross-language speech perception: Evidence for perceptual reorganization during the first year of life. Infant Behavior and Development, 7(1), 49–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0163-6383(84)80022-3https://doi.org/10.1016/s0163-6383(84)80022-3

Figure 1 – obtained from https://thecolorfulapple.com/2020/04/interactive-read-aloud-strategies/

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Drafted by: Keval

Edited by: Michelle, Phoebe

Reviewed by: Annabel, Joyce, Marilyn, Tiffany

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