Why is Reading so Important for Children?

Reading is an essential life skill, which offers a number of benefits to both children and adults. Reading reinforces all aspects of learning and is also used by many as a form of entertainment.

Read on to learn more reasons why Rowan Prep School believes reading is so important for children…

Expands Knowledge

Encouraging your child to read regularly will help to expand their knowledge and inspire their imagination. This will not only help them academically, but it will also help them socially, as it will give them lots of interesting things to talk about with friends and family.

Increases vocabulary

Reading helps to increase your child’s vocabulary. It doesn’t matter if your child is reading books; websites or magazines, all forms of reading are beneficial. When your child comes across a word that they do not understand, encourage them to look up the meaning in a dictionary or online. This will help to widen their vocabulary and it will also benefit their writing skills.

Improves writing

Reading goes hand in hand with writing. Regular reading will give your child a better understanding of good sentence structure and punctuation. This will help when it comes to creative writing exercises at school. If your child has a favourite story, set them a challenge to create their own ending to that story. Ask them to think about what parts of the storyline they could change to achieve a different ending.

Reduces stress

If your child struggles with anxiety or has trouble sleeping, reading could be the answer! By immersing themselves in a good story, your child will have an opportunity to forget about their worries and learn to relax. Next time your child feels stressed, introduce them to a new book and let their imagination take them away to somewhere new.

What can parents do to encourage reading?

Try to include reading into your everyday activities. For example, your child can help you to read a recipe as you bake together, or you can ask them to read the instructions of a new board game.

Tablets and smart phones can also be used to encourage reading. There are many free reading and educational apps you can download for your children. These provide safe spaces for reading without parents worrying about unsafe content online. Parents are able to choose what their children can access; set challenges and monitor progress.

Finally, it is important to keep your children reading throughout the school holidays. This will prevent them from falling into the ‘summer slide,’ where their reading skills can begin to regress.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you’ve enjoyed this post.