World read aloud day

 

Another week, another random literary themed day occurs!

Today is World read aloud day. It is something we encourage with the children within my workplace, to help build their vocabulary, language skills and comprehension. Most importantly in my mind, reading aloud and hearing others read builds a shared experience and helps to develop bonds between the reader and the listener.

The teacher I work with is a firm believer of children hearing different people read to them. It helps them to recognise that everyone reads in different ways, using different tones and emphasis. We encourage reading aloud as a group with both choral and individual reading opportunities.

I have to be honest, as a child I hated reading aloud. I always panicked that I would mispronounce words or stumble somehow. This was amplified in my teenage years when you would get picked on in class to read out, and I never put myself forward to do so. Things are different now. I love reading aloud to the children I work with and I think it is blatantly obvious how enthusiastic I am when I am asked! Just today I took guided reading and loved exploring the meanings of words and finding out what the children thought was going o happen next. I am not sure how I would feel if asked to read something out to a room of adults though, but I think I am improving confidence wise!

I recently read an article about the importance of reading aloud from the BBC (dated September 2020) which said that the art of reading aloud is becoming a dying occurrence and adults could benefit from doing it as it can boost our memories and strengthen relationships with others. By reading aloud, we can remember words and ideas more readily. This got me thinking - aside from reading to children at work and home (although my children prefer reading to themselves these days!) when do I read aloud as an adult? I might read out something from online to my husband (recently news reports and the odd joke!) but do I do enough?

Reading silently is, of course, much faster for some people and reading aloud can slow reading patterns down, but this is good in terms of ensuring we remember the words we have read. This, I suppose, is why reciting poetry and prayer helps us to recall them readily when required, much as singing helps me to remember things too!

I have decided today to endeavour to read aloud more - even if to myself! I could always read to the dog, I guess!!