Introducing children to reading as early as infancy can begin to strengthen social, language, and cognitive skills! Unfortunately, more than 1 in 3 children do not start Kindergarten with the necessary skills to be successful, because many are lacking in these areas. The more we read with children, the better they become at decision-making, understanding the world around them, and reasoning, which are also essential skills for Kindergarten.
Although it is true that a child can learn language by hearing it around them, they are not learning nearly as much as they would if they were being read to, or looking at books. Hearing the language provided by books adds more descriptive language to what a child hears. Also, the language in books is more likely to be a grammatically correct exposure to language. Each time a child looks at a book, or is read a book, connections are being made or strengthened in their brain! This is because the cells related to this area of development are being ?turned on? with each reading experience. It important that you are not only reading the words from a book, but also talking with the child about the content. When you talk with a child about what you just read, it helps them understand the book so they can make more sense of it and possibly relate the content to their own lives, making reading an engaging and interesting experience.
Not only is reading beneficial for a child?s development for learning purposes, but reading with a child can strengthen your bond with them! Creating a shared event every day for reading creates a trust and regularity with the child since they can trust you to be there. In turn, this trust creates a level of intimacy with the child, opening up opportunity for other discussions about more serious topics.
The Children?s Bureau has much more information on the importance of reading on their website. To read the article, visit:
https://www.all4kids.org/2017/03/03/importance-reading-children/