Reading with Audiobooks

The end of school and summer is upon us. Your child has made advancement in their reading skills but what now? Summer can be a time to continue to grow in reading skills or not. What can you do as a parent to help?

I had a reading expert tell me that she recommends audiobooks where the child can listen to the book as they follow along with reading. Audiobooks offer an enjoyable way for your child to improve their reading skills. Using audiobooks along with actual hard copies of books allows kids to follow the words on the page with their eyes as they listen to the words being read. The shared visual and audio reading experience provides extra support for readers: They learn to pronounce new words, hear fluent reading, and get to enjoy a new story. It's a win-win!

Guess what? Your public library is a good place to pick up a book in your child’s interest and there may be an audiobook available too. At Raleigh Library we have several popular physical books along with the audiobook available to check out. There are several audiobooks available on Axis 360. You can stop at your library to get a physical copy and check out the audiobook on Axis 360.

Audiobooks can also be a motivation to your reader. As they follow along to the end, they might realize they just “read” a book above their grade level. This might encourage them to keep trying when the reading gets hard.

Why not try this summer. Maybe you will surprise your child’s teacher when your child shows up next school year reading better than when they left school.