A love of reading can reap many benefits both at school but also throughout adulthood and beyond. 

In this modern world of endless electronic gadgets and devices, it is very easy for a child to become distracted and the days of youngsters being ‘lost’ in the imaginary worlds of books is now seemingly less common though through careful guidance, children themselves will learn to love reading and all the benefits which come from this.

Even before a child recognises and understands what books and reading are, toddlers benefit directly from listening to what is being read. When an adult reads to a child they are developing that child’s vocabulary, language and literacy skills while at the same time improving their memory and levels of concentration.

Parents reading with a child can also help a family develop a strong sense of bond and familiarity. It has been said that if a child reads for at least twenty minutes a day then they are exposed to over 1.5 million words a year. Furthermore, if a family reads every day for 20 minutes then this could mean over 121 hours of bonding time a year. The many benefits of reading to a child include:

• Increased communication between you and your child.
• Youngsters who are exposed to language and words from reading at a young age tend to do well in school.
• Reading helps to promote longer attention spans, focus and greater attention.
• Reading can expand a child’s horizon and builds their listening skills and imagination.
• Reading books can teach children morality tales and build character as they can learn the rights and wrongs of this world through books.
• Life keeps changing and youngsters will be able to relate their own lives to the ones they have read and this can create a sense of empathy.

If parents guide and teach youngsters to treasure books then students will begin to realise the importance and value of books in their own life. Reading is not just for fun and is a life skill, which if nurtured, will help set students on the road to success in life.

Resources

Here are some great resources to help promote a love of reading in a child

http://pbskids.org/games/reading/  - Reading Games

https://www.storyjumper.com/book/search - A website where you can make your own book

http://www.weread.org/kids/download.html - A website with many free reading resources for children

https://freekidsbooks.org/ - Free children’s books for all levelshttp://www.bedtime.com/ - Free bedtime stories