8 Benefits Of Reading For Children

Reading not only helps to fuel the imagination and entertain children, but it also helps them develop their intellectual capacity. 

Encouraging the good habit of reading in children has many benefits for their development. Although today there are many other tools that allow you to “entertain” you, teaching them to love books helps them in their intellectual, social and emotional formation.

Undoubtedly, through reading creativity increases and opens the door to new worlds and things to discover. Therefore, it is an essential resource to awaken the curiosity of children and facilitate their learning process.

Do you want to know other reasons to instill reading in children? There are actually many other virtues. Since many still do not know them, below we want to share in detail 8 of the most important.

1. Benefits of reading for children: vocabulary acquisition

Little by little, as they get older, children begin to explore language. At first by imitating the parents and then, at the beginning of the school stage, through various activities, such as reading. This activity helps them establish associations and understand the rudiments of language.

As they learn to read, children not only discover new words and enrich their vocabulary, but they begin to understand speech better. This is confirmed by professionals such as Mª Carmen Morón Macías, a member of the CC.OO. Teaching Federation. of Andalusia.

Therefore, it is extremely important to support the reading process and guide it appropriately, both in the classroom and at home. In order to develop various language skills, children must learn to master the habit of reading.

2. Improved expression

In relation to the previous benefit, it should be mentioned that reading  contributes significantly to improving children’s expression. In other words, the more words they learn, the better they can express themselves in their family, school and social environment.

3. Development of imagination and creativity

Books contain “worlds” that allow children to enhance their imagination and creativity. Through these resources, children can “transport” to other places, recreating in their minds the characters and settings that are exposed there.

The most interesting thing is that, later, they will try to make them come true, either through role play or by practicing drawing. All this, together, will be key to their intellectual formation.

4. Better reading comprehension

Reading comprehension is a powerful and indispensable tool for every human being. Without it, the academic training process becomes difficult and slows down.

For this reason, it is essential to work on it from home, with complementary readings and related activities. It helps to arouse curiosity about different topics, ask yourself questions, try to answer them, process information and understand things better. 

A child who has been used to reading regularly, both what they are told to read at school and recreational texts, will not have many difficulties when it comes to learning.

5. Less concentration problems thanks to reading in children

A good reading habit helps children develop their concentration. For example, in a story, through the characters and the action, their interest is captured and, consequently, children are motivated to focus their attention to know how everything ends.

Although it is normal that at first, when they are still very young, they are easily distracted. But the fact that little by little they manage to focus their attention on a text will save them, in the short and long term, many difficulties in terms of learning.

6. Personality development

Reading also helps to form the personality of children since, through it, they discover part of what they like and what they do not like, what they feel most identified with, what catches their attention and many other aspects.

7. Exercise for the brain

Reading is, in itself, an exercise for the brain. Hence, connections are established and memory and understanding are improved. And even if the text does not have great complexity, the brain works.

8. More empathy

Children who read from an early age tend to be more empathetic, in general. This is not only because stories help them better understand emotions, but they also learn to put themselves in the shoes of others and try to know what is happening to them and why. 

Empathy can contribute positively to their adaptation to the social environment and to be much more tolerant of different situations and people.

How to encourage reading in children?

Contrary to popular belief, parents should not leave the work to the teachers. On the contrary, their interest in reading must be awakened, from a very young age, from home.

• Practice reading with your children at home for at least half an hour.
• Take time to read a story to them. For example, before going to sleep.
• Set a good example so that the child, by imitating you, can develop his own reading habit.
• After a recreational reading, do a short question session. What did the characters do? How did they do it? What did it take to get to the end?
• Talk to your children about what they learned from the day’s reading. And if they have doubts about a term, encourage them to satisfy their curiosity with the dictionary and to contrast the information with you. 
• Try to offer him various readings, according to his age, but without limiting him. Offering a child only children’s readings could interfere with their evolution as a reader.

Reading as a tool of power

Reading becomes a tool of power not only because it exercises the imagination and helps to have a better command of the language, but because it facilitates the learning of other issues, such as mathematics, for example. So don’t underestimate it and cultivate it!