Reading has Learning, Emotional and Social Benefits

When one is able to read for pleasure and not out of necessity, the learning, emotional and social benefits are boundless. Besides obvious benefits such as increase in general knowledge ad language proficiency, children gain a greater insight into human nature and decision making from reading books. The more children are exposed to literature, the more reading will become part of their daily life. A child is introduced to new information, concepts, and phonemic awareness with every story.

How can parents encourage their child to read?

While it may be prudent for parents to limit the time their child spends on other activities, this may not be enough to spur a good reading habit. It is more important that children continue to enjoy what they are reading. This can be achieved by choosing books that your children enjoy for as long as possible.

Depending on the child’s language skill level, give him a story to read or have a story read to them. When the story is finished, ask your child to pinpoint his favourite parts of the story. This can enable children to have fun picking out words and develop an interest to move to the next page.

Children with a large collection of reading resources in their homes score higher and perform better on standardised tests. Provoke a reading habit in your child by having a large array of interesting books and magazines at their reading level.

Your response or feedback has a strong effect on how hard they will try to become good readers. Always remember to give them genuine praise for their efforts.