The Benefits of Reading at an Early Age
Jane Austen once wrote, “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” Reading is a pleasurable activity that not most people enjoy. Statistics show that only 48% of American adults enjoy reading for pleasure. This is somehow sad as there are so many things we can gain in reading books. Many believe that we should teach our children or the younger generation as early as possible to have a passion or love for reading. There are even book clubs for kids that are dedicated to getting your children excited about reading. Here are the benefits of reading at an early age:
Knowledge
Children will learn so much from books. There are so much information and lessons about friendship, family, and values that they learn from books, and this will help them understand things better while growing up. Even though children’s books are picture based and only have few words on them, this is how they get started.
Communication Skills
Reading will improve one’s communication skills. Their vocabulary widens as well as their understanding of words. This gives children confidence in speaking in public or expressing themselves to other people. They learn how to better communicate with friends and how to act in a polite, well-mannered way.
Achievement on Academics
Having strong reading skills is fundamental to one’s academic success. If a child is good at reading, he will be able to understand well other subjects, not just English or literature. The child will have the ability to understand sentences and have a good grasp of grammar and punctuation. This will help a young child to excel across all subjects and will have fewer hardships when completing any school work.
Develop Confidence and Independence
As mentioned earlier, children will develop better communication skills as they grow up reading. They will learn the correct pronunciation, grammar, and use of punctuation. They will also have a vast knowledge of not just vocabulary, but a lot of topics or subject matter from the materials they have been reading. This helps children become more intelligent. If a child is intelligent, he has more self-confidence in him and independence in studying and learning in school.
All parents are setting up their children for success; one of the things you can do is help your child develop a love for reading at an early age. You can start reading to them at night before they go to sleep, have some books at your home. You can lead as an example. Also, at an early age, choose books that your children will enjoy to get them started and excited.
