As parents have been moving en masse to homeschooling in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic, millions of them are turning to activity books, flash cards and audiobooks to educate their restless children.
While some parents might struggle to find which educational material works best for their offspring, a new report by the UK’s National Literacy Trust suggests that audiobooks have the potential to be a key resource for children’s literacy and wellbeing.
The study, conducted with 58,346 children and teenagers whose ages range between nine and 18, shows that 52.9% of them said that listening to audiobooks has increased their interest in reading.
Similarly, two in five of the children and teenagers surveyed (42.6%) confirmed that audiobooks have made them more interested in writing.
The study also reveals that audiobooks allow children and young people to access the benefits of books, regardless of their own reading and writing skills.
Among them are perks like developing their vocabulary, stimulating their imagination and learning how to express themselves.
Even more surprisingly, researchers of the National Literacy Trust suggest that audiobooks encourage boys to have a more positive attitude towards reading.
“[Boys] think they are getting away with something by listening instead of reading. We don’t have to tell them that they are learning vocabulary, story structure, sentence composition and a dozen other literacy skills,” American children’s author Jon Scieszka noted about boys’ interest in audiobooks. – AFP-Relaxnews
