Parents are often told to read aloud to their young children, and most people would say that they understand that children benefit from being routinely read to.
While parents are often recommended to do certain things to benefit their children, not many people can explain how reading benefits them. Now, for the first time, a study has revealed hard evidence that reading aloud to kids has a significant impact on literacy and language readiness.
In this study, researchers looked at the brains of nineteen 3-5-year-olds using magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI. Researchers scanned the children's brains while they listened to recordings of a woman reading stores, as well as while they listened to background noise, in order to see how their brains responded when faced with different types of stimulation. The team also found out how stimulating their home reading environments were by asking the children questions about how often they were read to and if they were exposed to a variety of books.
The MRIs revealed that children from the more stimulating home reading environments had more activity in the parts of the brain that help with narrative comprehension and visual imagery. The brains showed greater activity in those specific areas while they listened to stories.
Dr. Thomas Dewitt, Director of the Division of General and Community Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, said "This is a small and very early study, but the exciting thing is that it was able to demonstrate that early reading does have an impact on the parts of the brain that are fundamental for developing literacy early on," Dewitt said. "It is biological evidence that transcends empirical studies."
We can now help explain the "why" to parents when they are recommended to read aloud to their children. Reading to babies and children is important and can help the development of their young brains.
