Reading to children isn’t just a pastime or a spontaneous activity. It has many benefits for your child’s development. Find out why it’s so important to read to your children. While most parents read to their children when young, not many realize why keeping this practice up is essential as they age.
The top reasons why you should read to your children
Develop their language skills
While a baby might not fully understand what you are trying to say, they’ll slowly pick up on sounds that transform into words, which helps them improve their vocabulary. In addition, the more you read to them, the more they’ll understand simple to complex sentence structures, and they won’t be overwhelmed when you formally try to teach them how to communicate.
Of course, being patient with your child is essential, as they might not always pick up those language skills right away. So when you read to them, expect them to struggle to focus until they slowly become interested.
Promotes cognitive development
As your child grows, reading won’t just mean sounds; it’ll start representing words and sentences. This is when your child’s cognitive development starts to happen. The more you read to your child, the more accustomed they’ll become to using their imagination and thinking creatively. Reading will also help improve their concentration, memory, and cognitive abilities.
Aside from that, the more you read to them, your child will develop a fondness for reading, promoting more cognitive development.
Cultivates educational success
Consistent reading to your child helps set them up for educational success. This is because learning won’t become a chore, but a part of their lives. If you can cultivate their curiosity for knowledge through reading, when they can read, they’ll start to learn by themselves.
The more you read at home, the more ready they’ll become for school because their reading comprehension plays a massive part in academic performance.
Teaches social and emotional skills
Children can learn about animals, plants, other people, and cultures. Once they develop a good imagination, they can play scenarios or learn how to communicate with others. If you read them books about emotional skills, they’ll also learn how to develop them and what to do when they feel specific ways.
Aside from that, reading to your child helps them develop a good vocabulary, which they can use to express their feelings. But most importantly, your child will learn how to identify their emotions and what to do when they feel a certain way.
Good bonding time
In the eyes of a child, love is spelled TIME, which means that reading is a form of bonding and attachment for them. So if you consistently read to them with intent, they’ll take this as a form of bonding.
When reading to younger children, always be patient when they don’t pay attention 100 percent to what you’re saying. The older the child becomes, the more they’ll be curious about how pictures translate to words, sentences, and stories. Another thing you can do is surround your child with books and let them identify the books as toys and play-things rather than something they should be afraid of.
It also pays to buy the right books for them, depending on their age. The more age-appropriate a book is, the more likely the child will be interested.
Builds a love of reading
Reading is not just a necessary skill; it is also a habit that, once enforced, can help increase a child’s chances for growth and success. This is because when a child loves reading, they’ll also love learning. Therefore, providing them with the right books can increase their chances of picking up a new skill, interest, and knowledge.
It’s also essential to support them in their interests. For example, if they find dinosaurs interesting, give them a book about dinosaurs and allow them to explore the science around them.
Conclusion
Reading to children is an integral part of development. Because of this, you should make time to read to your child every day, if possible, when they are young. Surrounding them with books is equally important since this helps them become more familiar with and used to pictures, letters, and words.
Try increasing your reading time with them as they grow older to help boost their love for reading even further. But of course, please don’t be too pushy on books; let your child naturally develop a fondness for them.
