Babies and young children are like sponges that significantly soak in everything in their environments. For one, reading is a powerful, fulfilling, and rewarding activity that can help your child’s development. Whether you’re reading a classic novel or fairy tale before bedtime, reading aloud can significantly benefit your child’s life. It’s possible to help ensure your child’s success by reading to them. It is undeniable that a child’s reading skills are essential to their success in school, work, and life.
You can start reading aloud to your baby as early as you like – the earlier, the better. Your baby will love being held in your arms, listening to your voice, hearing rhyme and rhythm, and looking at pictures. Here are some benefits of reading to children:
Assisted cognitive development.
Cognitive development refers to how we perceive and think about our world about intelligence, reasoning, language development, and information processing. By reading to children, you provide them with a deep understanding of their world and fill their brains with background knowledge.
Developing empathy.
When we read a book, we put ourselves in the story in front of us. This allows us to build empathy as we experience other characters’ lives and can identify with how they are feeling. Children can then use this understanding to empathize in the real world with other people.
Gaining a deeper understanding of new things.
A book can take us anywhere: to another city, a different country, or even an alternative world. By reading a book, a child learns about people, places, and events that they couldn’t know otherwise.
Building stronger relationships.
If a parent reads with a child regularly, they will undoubtedly develop a stronger relationship. Reading allows parents to have a regular and shared event that both parent and child can look forward to. Furthermore, it provides children with feelings of attention, love, and reassurance, which is vital for nurturing and wellbeing.
Aside from these, reading with children can also benefit your children by improving their literacy skills, giving them a more extensive vocabulary, greater concentration, and higher levels of creativity and imagination.
Reading with your child can be an enjoyable activity that both parents and children can enjoy. Suppose you read with your child at home. In that case, you are also supplementing what they learn in the classroom and giving them additional one-on-one support that the school may not be able to offer.
To have successful and effective reading sessions, you can consider the following tips:
- Start young.
- Make it part of your routine.
- Encourage variation.
- Be patient.
- Continue discussing even after you’ve finished reading a story.
Reading is a great habit; it needs to be consistent and established. For this, parents need to set aside quiet time. This means consciously making time and keeping interruptions to a minimum. The earlier the parents can start creating this routine, the better, as it allows their child to grow up loving reading and become a part of their life.