Reading aloud strengthens language development & family ties

Playful learning: reading aloud well to family ties

29/10/2014

When parents read to their children, this is not only helpful for the language development of the offspring, but also strengthens the cohesion of the family. This emerges from a new study. Many parents, however, neglect this ritual.

Reading aloud strengthens social ties in the family
Reading aloud to children will do more than previously thought: strengthening language skills and vocabulary, as well as social ties in the family. This is the central result of the new Lecture Study 2014, which has now been presented by the Stiftung Lesen in Berlin. „When read in families, this often stems from conversations beyond stories“, study director Simone Ehmig told the news agency dpa. The attention that is given and the trusting mood invite you to talk about difficult situations or problems.

Many parents seldom or never read to their children
However, not all parents take advantage of this opportunity. As the most recent survey shows, almost one third of mothers and fathers in Germany seldom or not at all read children. At 31 percent, the value is almost unchanged compared to the previous year (30 percent). However, Ehmig emphasized that the many calls and programs for reading aloud in recent years were not in vain. For example, the readiness to read aloud since the beginning of the 2007 studies has grown disproportionately, for example, in families without education and fathers. More than two-thirds of parents (69 percent) now enjoy reading and reading in their everyday lives. The majority of them (41 percent) several times a week.

Read aloud children and parents
This is what 70 per cent of the children wish for. As the investigation has shown, the little ones not only connect the interest in stories, but also the desire for time, closeness and the undivided attention of the parents. Of the parents surveyed, two thirds said they enjoyed the read-aloud time. According to the researchers, the read-ahead medium plays no role here. So it does not necessarily have to be the classic children's book, but also tablet or computer are suitable. The new technology is valued above all by the fathers. Even if parents do not read aloud in German, the positive effects of reading aloud in the family unfold. Migrants are advised by scientists to read to their children in the language in which they feel most comfortable with themselves.

Speech development makes enormous progress early
You can not start early enough, as some experts say. The development of language generally makes tremendous progress from the age of three. If, on the second birthday, there are an average of 100 words spoken by a child, the vocabulary has increased to 2,000 words two years later. By about the fourth birthday, some children already form multi-chain major and minor sentences. In total, 250 mothers and 250 fathers were interviewed for the current study with at least one child in the reading age between two and eight years. As the Foundation announced, the group was representative of families with children in the reading age. The Lecture Study 2014 is a joint project of Stiftung Lesen, the weekly newspaper „The time“ and the Deutsche Bahn Foundation. (Ad)