Benefits of reading habit in children

 The habit of reading books unlocks a treasure of imagination, ideas, and experiences besides imparting knowledge to children. Reading books is the easiest way to open children’s mind to new thoughts and concepts through entertaining ways. Children learn new vocabulary and their comprehension skills improve with time when they read a lot, boosting their ability to imagine, think out of the box, and be creative. Also, reading paves way for self-learning and increases their attention span.

To inculcate the reading habit in children, parents can begin by reading bedtime stories to them. Ideally, a book with more pictures and less text initially will be a good place to start. Parents should introduce a variety of books appropriate for their age. Engaging short stories with colorful illustrations, folk tales, fairy tales, animal stories, and moral stories may be introduced to children. Children not only love listening to stories but also the undivided attention they seek. As time goes on, parents could choose a slightly longer story and read a few lines from the book and leave the remaining to be read on the next day. This will invoke the curiosity of the child and they will eagerly wait for the next story-reading session. After a few months of reading stories to the child, parents could welcome their child to read the story by themselves. As the child reads, they should be prompted to explain about what they are reading. Soon they will begin telling stories to you and their friends and this will help them improve their communication skills. The child will feel compelled to read more stories to entertain themselves further. This will set the child on a lifelong journey of reading and learning.

When children encounter fictitious characters in their story books, they learn to see the world through the perspective of these characters. Understanding the problems and experiences they themselves have never faced helps them develop tolerance toward others . In addition, it helps in improving their social skills. When your child grows, their chances of getting addicted to video games, mobile phones, or TV will be limited if they develop the hobby of reading. If you can give the gift of reading to a child, the child will never again be lonely in life.