Reading

 
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Benefits of Reading

Reading is an easy way to expand your child’s vocabulary. A love of reading is a beautiful gift you can give your child. When you read to your child you are not just telling them a wonderful story, you are teaching them new vocabulary, rhyming words, joint attention and turn taking. Reading has been found to improve expressive Language in toddlers and progressing late talkers language.

 

Why is reading so good for language development?

Books use a lot of the same strategies speech therapists use to support children’s language. Books have visual cues, repetition and turn taking to name a few. We’ve organised our favourite books into some of the strategies categories, in real life there’s some cross over but this should give you an idea of the strategies you are using when reading together.

  • Turn Taking

  • Rhyming

  • Extending Vocabularies

  • Onomatopoeia’s

  • Questions

 

Turn Taking

Interactive books are a great way to introduced your child to some turn taking during reading. When children were active participants they made greater vocabulary gains.

Rhyming

Rhyming words feature a lot in children’s books so this is an easy area to develop during reading time. Rhyming words develop children’s phonological awareness which is the understanding of different sounds within a word, an essential skill for learning to read.

Vocabulary Extending Books

Books are a wonderful way to extend your child’s vocabulary, they introduce your child to new words with lots of lovely repetition. When 17 - 19 month old were read a book six times a week, it equated to an additional 0.3SD in their vocabulary.

Onomaetoepia’s

Onomaetoepia’s are words that look like the way they sound; Splish, stomp, brrr. Fun and easy words help keep your child's attention and reduce pressure, especially if your child isn't very talkative. Onomaetoepia’s are also easy words for your little ones to learn.

Questions

Open-ended questions such as Who, what, where, how questions make extending conversations easier by encouraging a natural back and forth.

 

Read the Research