Reading to your school-going child..
- Pranathi
- Mar 6, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 23, 2025
Your child can now read by themselves. Why would you want to continue to read to them? While we love when children read independently, there is much value in your reading another book to them, in parallel. This post talks a little bit about the benefits of regularly reading to your child. In fact, you can read to your child well into their teen years!
Many times, especially in elementary age, a child’s self-reading level is below their comprehension level. They may be ready for complicated storylines and language but are not able to read the books that match their maturity or intellect by themselves and may lose interest in reading. For example, your child may be able to read only simple picture books by themselves, but they could enjoy Asterix comics, Famous Five, Charlotte's Web or even The Secret Garden, when you read to them. When you read to your child, you can reach them at the level that they are ready for.
Even when you read a book that is above their comprehension, you can explain difficult parts along the way, introducing them to more complex storylines and vocabulary. Reading to children exposes them to material and ideas that they may not have accessed by themselves. It's also a good way to help them move from picture books to chapter books to more advanced books, and whet their appetite for more complicated reading material.
Also, at any age, when you read to your child, you instantly create a shared world that you both inhabit. For example, in a story about an imaginary city with fantastic characters, you both can relate to the story and talk about it. A story about going to a new school or fighting with a friend creates opportunities for you to share your own experiences, or listen to your child talk about theirs. Shared books open up conversations and avenues to better understanding each other. Reading together can be an incredible parent-child bonding experience!
We at Kitiki suggest selecting a high-quality, multi-layered book that is above the self-reading capacity of the child. For younger children, focus on making the experience fun. You can occasionally ask questions (say one or two questions per book) like, what do you think happens next, why do you think this person did that, or how do you think the character feels now. But don’t interrupt the story often, specially if you have a page-turner!
For older children, if they would like, you can try to introduce some literary analysis. Beyond a surface level comprehension, a basic understanding of the story, or you can try to analyze the plot, predicting what happens next as you go along. As you read, you could look for any patterns, allegory, motifs, messages or themes in the book, or talk about the characters (especially if they are well-developed). You can examine point of view as the story changes based on who is doing the narrating. The book may have philosophical lessons or meaning upon deeper reading or you may recognize a connection to another story or life experience. For more on this topic, I recommend the book Deconstructing Penguins: Parents, Kids, and the Bond of Reading.
In this way, your child may be understanding the book at one level, but you could expose them to another level as you share your thoughts about it. It's not necssary though, if either one of you is not keen on it, and even a plain read-aloud of the book brings many benefits. The important thing is to keep it fun, engaging and interesting!
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