‘Books are a uniquely portable magic’
~ Stephen King
Take it from the master of storytelling; an artisan of words who has weaved many a fantastical horror story for millions the world over!
It’s true. Books have that ‘je ne sais quoi’ about them, that transports you to another world. It’s as though you’re living in two worlds whenever you read a book – the real world you inhabit, and the one you retreat to in the spaces between the book’s pages!
We at Kangaroo Kids believe that the importance of reading cannot be undermined, and that there is no age that is too young when it comes to starting reading to your kids. In this article, we not only espouse the benefits of reading books to children, but also dish out a Masterclass in how to make children read!
But first, let’s take a closer peek at the importance of reading skills, shall we?
Table of Contents
- The Importance of Reading Skills: The Importance of the Reading Habit
- Reading Tips: How to Make Children Read
The Importance of Reading Skills: The Importance of the Reading Habit
Whether it’s a fairy tale you’re reading to your children or perhaps even a classic novel, the importance of reading skills in kids is diverse.
Presenting the top benefits of reading books to your child.
- Cognitive Development
- Preparing for Academic Success
- Improved sense of Imagination
- Developing a sense of Empathy
- Sharpens their Concentration
- Improving their Critical Thinking Skills
In essence, this is the ability to ‘think’ and ‘understand’. The more you read to your kids, the more their vocabulary will expand, and the more they will understand the world around them.
It’s a given that the more your children have a grasp over the basics of language by the time they reach kindergarten, the easier they will find it to cope with academics!
There is no time quite as the early years of childhood, for one’s imagination to soar to the greatest heights. On that note, your kids will test the boundaries of their imagination by exploring places and people beyond their immediate experiences, when you read to them.
This is one of the most overlooked benefits of reading books to your little one! As you read to them, they come to empathize with the several characters in the story. That’s not all – they go on to take this empathy into the real world with them, and start to become more caring of others’ feelings.
There is absolutely no undermining the power of concentration in the case of children attending higher school, and way beyond when they are grown adults, too. If you consistently read books to your child from a young age, you will hone that sense of concentration in a way like no other.
The importance of reading books can be truly seen, when children learn to think analytically thanks to the many stories you have told them over time. Deciphering all those intriguing ‘plots’ in books, they learn to think critically, and thus make sense of things by themselves.
Reading Tips: How to Make Children Read
By now, there’s probably not a doubt in your mind vis a vis the importance of reading. While it might be a breeze reading to them, the question persists: ‘How to Make Children Read’?
Presenting some invaluable tips, that will help get your kids to embrace the love of reading books by themselves!
- Build their sense of Phonemic Awareness
- Take Phonics to the next level
- Let them read Anything
- Take them to the Library!
- Read around them
- Take ‘turns’ reading
One of the best ways to get children to learn reading, is to have them understand the different ‘sounds’ and ‘syllables’ in words. That can be effectively achieved, by singing nursery rhymes to them and having them sing in unison.
Once your children have learned the basic ‘sounds’ that words make, you want to take it to the next level and get them initiated in mastering Phonics. For example, you might want to write down the word ‘Dog’ on a piece of paper, and slowly blend the sounds of each ‘letter’ to form the entire ‘word’.
Cool Fact: The above example is called ‘sounding out’, and it will help your kids learn to say words they didn’t even know before!
Your children must know that ‘All’ reading is good reading. To that effect, you might wish to encourage them to read even ‘comics’, if they so desire. They can’t start by reading ‘Shakespeare’, after all!
One of the best ways to get children to read is to garner a sense of what they are interested in reading. When they point out books they want to read, you start to get an idea as to what books you want to buy them in the future.
You know what they say about every parent being the role model for their child? Truer words were never said!
Tip: You want to read a book in their presence for at least 15 minutes every day. That will get them interested in reading in a way like no other!
As your child gets more proficient in the art of reading, you want to take turns where it comes to reading that book with them.
Tip: When they read to you, have them pause at certain stages in the story and ask them something like: ‘What do you think will happen next?’
We at Kangaroo Kids believe that the importance of reading is more critical in this day and age, than ever before. Reading books is the only way we can get our kids to increase their attention spans, in an Instagram-dominated world. Get your child a book today, that you can read to them at night before they sleep. It is the best possible present you can give them!
