How to encourage children to read?
We tell you about the importance of reading in childhood, what skills it develops and how to encourage it. Don't miss it!
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The importance of encouraging children to read
The pleasure of reading doesn't come from nowhere for little ones. Rarely do we find children who love to read instinctively, without being taught or mimicking someone. For the vast majority of them, the habit of reading needs to be introduced into family life by all the adults around them. They say the best way to learn is by example, so it will be easier for a child to read if they have parents or guardians who are also readers.
In addition, reading promotes the ability to concentrate. The inability to concentrate is one of the great ‘pandemics’ of the digital age in which we live. We are bombarded with so many stimuli that we cannot digest them.
The benefits of reading for children
Children who read will have certain advantages in their educational, social and emotional growth that will allow them to develop individual and collective skills for their life in society.
- Helps acquire vocabulary. As they learn to read, they not only discover new words and enrich their vocabulary but also begin to understand speech better.
- Improves academic performance. Children who read usually have a better understanding when confronted with a text on any subject.
- Improves concentration. On average, an adult can focus on a given task for a maximum of three minutes. However, during adolescence, it’s only 65 seconds. When they are still small, it’s normal for them to be easily distracted at first, but they will gradually learn to focus their attention.
- It helps them develop critical and analytical skills, so they will have more tools to solve problems and will be less manipulative in adulthood.
- Develops their personality. Reading also helps to shape children's personalities, since they discover what they like and dislike, what identifies them, what attracts their attention...
- It promotes creativity, which will develop as they progress with reading. It’s one of the ‘superpowers’ of human beings, along with critical thinking.
- It develops emotional intelligence and empathy. The stories in books help them to understand emotions better, they learn to put themselves in other people's shoes and try to find out what is happening to them and why. Empathy helps them to adapt to their social environment and to be much more tolerant.
- It’s an exercise for the brain, as it establishes neural connections and improves memory and understanding.
Guidelines to encourage reading in children
There are different ways to try to get children and young people interested in reading and to turn it into a habit. There is not a single formula, but we have several recommendations:
- Present reading as fun, as if it were a game. Do not impose it.
- Provide a place to read that is comfortable and not tied to homework, which helps to create a sense of uniqueness.
- Encourage social activities with books, such as book clubs.
- Preach through example.
- Read together to find out what they like to read and establish emotional bonds, so that it’s not perceived as a solitary activity.
- Include the topic of books in conversations with family and friends.
- Read bedtime stories to children to awaken their curiosity to continue discovering adventures on their own.
- Have children's books within their reach, so that they can choose for themselves and get to know their tastes.
- Choose the right books for each age group.
- Exchange books with other children, as a way to discover new readings and interact with other children through books.
