Do you feel tired reading aloud and wish that the children read books on their own? If yes, take a moment.
As adults, we read the newspaper for information. We also read the newspaper for the entertainment it offers. That's the reason why the newspaper offers extra supplements that bring news that is likely to deliver some pleasure. Reading about art created by someone or a book review or a review of a music concert or a movie etc, is included to deliver some relief from the daily chaos that sometimes life tends to bring. We look forward to reading these articles as they bring some pleasure.
If we read the entertainment pages in the newspaper for pleasure, what do children read for pleasure? Story books one may say. If story books can be read for pleasure, why don't many children read?
Does reading for the sake of reading everyday count? To answer that question the purpose of reading needs to be first discussed. Is it simply the ability to read and understand text? If that's the case if a child is able to read and understand simple text reasonably well, what's the need to making time for reading outside school? This string of thoughts simply suggests that the individual making these statements finds reading as a chore and hence is quite content if a child can read and understand text. But is that enough?
Why reading aloud to them helps?
When we read aloud a book that is interesting and appeals to the one reading and the child, we establish the fact that reading as an act enables some amount of bonding, a little bit of laughter if the book is funny, thinking together, anticipating what could happen next in the book and so on. All of this helps reenforce a positive association with reading as an activity.
A bamboo takes a long time to grow but when it does, it stands tall:
Many parents worry that this habit will go on forever and their child will never pick up book independently to read. Children are full of surprises. Given a chance, the time and the right environment, they find their way to becoming independent and lifelong readers. All they need is a positive and enjoyable association with reading as an activity. However, when one whines about reading aloud and asks them to read on their own, isn't one indirectly suggesting that reading as an activity is tiring? There is no pleasure what so ever associated with the act of reading.