Between heaven & earth

Reading aloud and listening

They say you should read to children. But you have to enjoy reading yourself.

(Bild: tunedin/stock.adobe.com)

According to a constantly repeated mantra in educational research, parents should read to their children to encourage them to read for themselves. However, "Krone" science expert Christian Mähr has identified a catch ...

Because the little-considered prerequisite for reading aloud is that the readers read themselves. In other words: they have already done it before, long before the children. It's the same with sport - no parent teaches their offspring to swim if they don't swim themselves.