collaborative guest post
Reading is an essential life skill and it offers a number of benefits to both adults and children. Reading aids learning and is used by many as a form of entertainment. Furthermore, reading is a great way to relax and de-stress. Read on to learn more reasons why Orchard House School believes reading is so important for children…
Knowledge
By encouraging your child to read regularly, you will help to expand their knowledge and spark their imagination. This will not only help them academically, but it will also help them socially, as it will give them lots of interesting things to talk about with friends and family.
Increased vocabulary
Reading increases your vocabulary. It doesn’t matter if your child is reading books; websites or magazines, all forms of reading are beneficial. When your child comes across a word that they do not understand, ask them to write it down and then look up the meaning. This will help to enhance their vocabulary and it will also benefit their writing skills.
Improved writing
Regular reading will give your child a better understanding of good sentence structure and the rhythm of words. This will help when it comes to creative writing exercises at school. If your child enjoys reading a particular book, you could set them a challenge to create their own ending to the story. Think of what parts of the storyline you could change to achieve a different outcome.
Relaxation
If your child struggles with stress or has trouble sleeping, reading could be the answer! By immersing themselves in a good story, your child will forget about their worries and begin to relax. Next time your child feels stressed, introduce them to a new book and let their imagination take them away to somewhere new.
What can parents do to encourage reading?
Try to include reading and writing into your everyday activities. For example, you could ask your child to help you read a recipe, write your shopping list and then help you to find these items at the supermarket by reading the overhead signs.
Make use of technology and apps
Tablets and smartphones can be useful for accessing free reading apps. These provide safe spaces for reading without parents worrying about unsafe content online. Parents are able to choose what their children can access; use timer features and monitor their child’s progress.
School holidays
Finally, it is important to keep your children reading throughout the school holidays. This will prevent them from falling into the ‘summer slide,’ where they could start to regress and forget what they have been learning at school.
