Why you should get your children into reading from an early age
Less and less children are reading. According to a study done by the department of education, one in five children cannot read well by the age of 11. This is being replaced by social media and technology, but is there a knock-on effect for our children’s development? I want to show a couple of ways that reading affects our children and why we shouldn’t jump so quickly at the chance to buy them the latest bit of technology.
Academic performance
I would be the first to admit that I push my children to succeed in school. Most of the time it will work however sometimes my children won’t respond. They’ll throw a tantrum that lasts for days which will force me to rethink my approach. Kids are people too, and if it’s all work work work it’s very hard to stay motivated.
A study done by the UCL was published recently which states that reading – even just for fun – has a positive effect on a child’s intelligence. You would expect a child with smart parents, or a child with a well-off upbringing (enough to afford private tuition and more opportunities for extra curricular events) would mean higher marks – but you’d be wrong! UCL showed that children reading for fun is more of a signal of exam prowess than well-off smart parents! It seems that my shameful pushy attitude might not be as important as I had first thought.
But when is too early to get into books? Those children who started reading prior to starting school showed better reading skills that was still noticeable after four years of schooling!
Create a bond
As a child I would look forward to my bed time because it meant story time. I would sit on my Dads lap as he narrated all these wonderful stories, the impressions, sound effects and new voices for each character were brilliant. At the time I probably never appreciated the moments enough, but looking back I realised that time was special, and helped create a bond with him.
It’s important that we set aside specific time with our children, and story time is a perfect opportunity for this. It’s never too young to start this, whilst babies might not understand the stories, they’ll love the visuals of a storybook, and will be calmed by your voice.
You can find books suitable for all ages online. For young children I love name in the story books, which add another layer of fun to reading. Custom Gifts stock a wide range of these.
Improved mood & sleep better
Everyone can get down from time to time or have trouble sleeping, but we rarely pay much attention to it in our own lives, but when my daughter had trouble sleeping in his first week back at school, we were really concerned. You can probably also guess that when she didn’t sleep, we didn’t sleep, but the worse thing was not seeing her bubbly, funny personality all week! I knew we had to do something.
Another study completed by UCL showed that reading improves sleep patterns, improves confidence and the ability to cope with difficult situations in life. By switching off the television and sitting down for a bed time story an hour before actual bed time, we were able to sooth my daughter to sleep. It’s what started the bedtime tradition that has lasted ever since.
Enhances imagination & empathy
As my daughter is an only child, I sometimes think that they are missing our on valuable life lessons that having brothers and sisters provide. She has friends of course, but in our home, she probably thinks she’s the centre of the world with all the attention we can’t help but give her.
Getting engrossed in a novel that puts you into the mind of the narrator, opens our minds and can let us experience an infinite world of new possibilities. This imaginary world can let us experience hundreds of lives, living through the characters and growing and learning with them. Without reading, we only live our own lives, only learn from our own mistakes, and only grow as fast as our own world dictates. Reading then, is a fast-track to life experience. Why wouldn’t you want that for your child?
** This is a guest post **
