Swathi Palanivel
Are you considering introducing your child to books? You are in the right place, as I’ve listed a bunch of reasons to indicate why it is important to read to your child in this article.
Children are constantly curious to know about anything and everything. They are not afraid to ask questions and to learn about things they don’t know. One great way to keep them wanting to know more and to satisfy their hunger for knowledge is introducing them to the vast world of books. This is why it is important to read to your child right from a really young age. Let us look at even more amazing reasons as to why it is important to read to your child below.
If you don’t want to spend a lot on new books, check out our article on the 5 best websites to buy second hand books.
Why it is important to read to your child
As children can’t read by themselves, it is our duty as parents to read out books for them. This has numerous advantages for both the parents and the children. I had started reading to my daughters even before they turned one. Now my eldest daughter has started reading by herself and she is so interested in reading stories that are set in India. She loves Sudha Murthy, R.K Narayanan and Ruskin Bond. My youngest on the other hand loves hearing me read her bedtime stories.
I have recommended all my friends to read to their children as well. Even though it is a bit hard to sit them down while reading to them initially, you will gradually get them interested and captivated enough to sit/ lie still and listen. I’ll list the five most important reasons as to why it is important to read to your child and give a brief explanation about the same below.
Check out our detailed article on Sudha Murthy’s books to choose the best one to read out to your little bundle of joy.
6 Interesting facts you must know
Though there are multiple reasons as to why it is important to read to your child, I’ll limit myself to the six most important reasons. These reasons are backed with scientific researches and you can completely trust the benefits of these reasons. Without further ado, let’s jump into it.
Quality Bonding Time
One of the finest reasons as to why it is important to read to your child is the parent- child bonding time that you will get out of it. My youngest daughter’s favorite time of the day is when I read her bedtime stories. I also look forward to this time as it helps me relax after a long tiring day as I get to lose myself in the world of fairy tales and panchathanthras. There are numerous researches that show the importance of the parent- child bonding time that comes out of reading to children
Few of the stellar outcomes of the results are that,
Improves vocabulary
Out of the number of reasons on why it is important to read to your child, the most important one is the improvement of their vocabulary. Books, even story books for little kids tend to have a lot of words that are not in common everyday usage. Your kids will get to memorize these words as you read to them repeatedly. After knowing these words, children will start using these words in their daily conversations
One study on kindergarten kids shows that,
Improves communication skills
Another important reason as to why it is important to read to your child is that it improves their communication skills. As mentioned above the increase in their vocabulary will definitely improve the kids’ communication skills. This is because they have a wide range of options to choose from when they want to express themselves. This in turn will make them better at being understood by others.
Researches who work with teenagers have noticed that,
Increases attention span
An obvious reason as to why it is important to read to your child is that it helps increase their attention span. As reading keeps the mind of the kids engaged it helps them to develop concentration skills. This in turn will help them to sit by themselves and read when they grow up. Even though it is hard to make the kids sit still during the initial days, it will get easier as days pass by. My second daughter also found it hard to sit still initially but now she sits by herself and makes me read to her.
Research shows that the kids who were read to,
Develops imagination and creativity
An interesting reason as to why it is important to read to your child is that it develops their creativity and imagination. Though children are quite imaginative and creative on their own, books help with enhancing it even more. Reading to your child will open up a whole new world to them. It will help them to think outside the box. The colorful pictures and interesting stories that you read to them will thus have long term positive effects on your child’s imagination and creativity skills.
Various studies have shown that reading to kids leads to,
Teaches moral values
The last but not the least reasons as to why it is important to read to your child is that it teaches them life lessons as well as moral values. Most childrens’ stories are filled with moral values. They teach important life lessons like honesty, punctuality, friendliness and such. It is hard to explain these abstract concepts to kids but with the help of stories, you can easily make them understand. You can choose an age appropriate moral story for your kid and you can read it to them.
Several studies show that reading to kids,
Check out our articles on Ruskin Bond’s books and the importance of his books to choose his best books and read to your little ones.
Tips for reading to your child
Now that we have looked at the various reasons on why it is important to read to your child, we’ll move on to the next part on how to do it easily. It is upto us parents to get them interested and involved in listening to stories. So, I’m giving a few tips and tricks to help you with that.
- Make them look at the pictures while reading to them and get them interested in it.
- Let them choose the books they want to be read to.
- Gift them books and get them excited about books in general.
- Keep the books in their eye level so that they can grab it by themselves and try reading it.
To know more tips on how to get your child to love reading, check out our detailed article on the same.
Takeaway
I hope that the above mentioned reasons would have given you a detailed idea on why it is important to read to your child. In this age of screens and children’s addiction to it, it is important to divert them away from it. There’s no better alternative to the bright colourful screens than that of books. Introduce them to the world of books and let them reap the amazing benefits of it. Happy reading to your little one from me!
To get your child into books and reading on their own, gift them the best talking books.
