The importance of Reading in Child Development
June 06 2008 12:23 pm | Portraits To Art
The importance of Reading in Child Development
A good reading ability is vital to give children a good start with the competition they’ll face in today’s society. For nearly everything you do, you need to be able to read, whether it be newspapers, computer screens, road signs, instruction booklets, forms to be filled in or even just the TV guide! If your reading ability is poor, you are very definitely handicapped in many areas of life.
No parent would willingly handicap their children, but many just don’t understand how easy it can be to get them to learn to read well by starting with them at a young age. There are many different kinds of books available to interest young readers, ones with bright colors and pretty pictures. Books featuring objects or animals familiar to the youngster will help create interest by giving them a connection with the contents of the book.
A great way to start is to read any books you have from when you were a child, especially your own favorites. Ask friends and family for ideas about what their children liked best. Teachers can also give suggestions for books that have good value. Another place to look is on the internet as there are many websites with lists of favorites and bestsellers. There are also the timeless classics and fairy tales. Libraries usually have a great selection of great children’s books to borrow.
If you want to buy books for your children but funds are tight, you can pick up good used books cheaply in such places as markets, school fetes, car boot sales, ads in the paper or on community notice boards, in second hand shops and stores run by charitable organizations. Another good idea is to ask family and friends whose children have grown whether they’d be willing to part with any of their children’s books. These are some ideas to give you a start; you’re bound to think of more.
Experience has shown that however much you pay for a book, the quality of the book is not as important as the quality of the time you spend with your children, reading to them and later listening to them. They can tell if you are giving all your attention to them and to reading or whether half your mind is concerned with something else. So when time is limited, make the reading period shorter if you need to, but commit yourself 100% to your child for that short space of time.
The more you read to your young children, the more interested in books and in reading they’ll become and want to learn to do it by themselves. This is just what you want as the more they read, the better they’ll become. Make it fun and not a chore; make a game of it sometimes. Challenge them to try something harder. Ask them easy questions about the story to see if they are understanding what it was about. These things don’t have to take long, but are better when they are done often, as this helps to form a reading habit in your youngster.
Reading improves vocabulary and enhances language skills, enabling children to express themselves better when speaking and in their writing. Opening their minds to a world of books lets them see the consequences of actions people take, thus helping them to learn a sense of responsibility for what they choose to do and developing their critical thinking and problem solving abilities. Don’t underestimate the importance of reading in child development.
Children’s books can be purchased online as well as from shops. This is actually a great way to compare books from different sources, compare prices and also find the specials that are available from different suppliers most of the time.
The biggest on-line bookstore is Amazon.com, so this is a good place to start when you’re looking to buy the best books for the children you love.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this article. For more information on the best children’s book, please visit my website at www.fabfamilies.net or email me on info@fabfamilies.net
The importance of Reading in Child Development / Author: Trish
