Watching the movie ‘Frozen’ for the 100th time? So familiar with Elsa’s dialogues you can reel it off in your sleep? Find yourself humming ‘Let It Go’ so often through the day that you really wish you could let it go? Well, join the club of parents who are used to watching and rewatching, listening and relistening to their kids’ favorite movies and songs respectively.
When it comes to books also, whether you are reading aloud to them or they are reading independently, you will find that kids love rereading their favorites time and again. Though it may be too monotonous for you there are actually advantages for your kid in rereading the same book. Let us see what these advantages are with respect to both independent reading and being read to.
- Improves Vocabulary
There is nothing like reading to improve your kid’s vocabulary.
Independent Reading
The first time your kid reads a new book they will encounter new words, this is the perfect opportunity for you to get them to look up the meaning and pronunciation (if they are old enough) or you could explain the meaning to them. As your kids keep reading the book they start becoming more familiar with these (new) words and also how they connect with the rest of the sentence. In this way your kids also learn sentence construction and start becoming more fluent in the language.
Being Read To
Even when you read out the story to your kid they will slowly start to associate words with pictures and learn how to pronounce these words. This will work as a great foundation to get them started on reading in the near future.
- More Involved in the Story and Characters
Both for independent reading and being read to, repetition helps your kid understand the storyline better. They also start feeling a connection with each of the characters and are able to understand their unique personalities (you can help them here by describing the good qualities in each character) and the role each character plays in the story.
- Helps Build Confidence
This holds true in the case of independent readers, for the more your kid understands the story and the flow of words the more confident they become in their reading. Over the course of time, this confidence will stand them in good stead even when they pick up a new book as they will find it easier to understand the structure of sentences.
- Triggers their Imagination
Independent Reading
You can use the fact that your kid is so comfortable with the storyline and the characters to get them to use their imagination. Give them different scenarios regarding the storybook, for example ask them to come up with a different storyline using the same characters or even change the personalities of the characters, there are so many options. In this way, you can also get them in touch with their creative side.
Being Read to
You can change the storyline once in a while and ask your kid for their ideas on how each character will respond to different situations. This gets your kid’s mind working and makes them more involved in the story.
So the next time you are handed the same book for reading time, smile, for you now know how helpful it will be for your kid.