Leaders are Readers. Build a Leader from Your Child
If you are a parent from Generation X or Xennials, you are likely to have picked the habit of reading books maybe from your parents. The generations that followed the Xennials may have given up on reading as much as they once did since they got to see contemporary technologies firsthand. There is a growing propensity among the next generation to embrace technology; traditional books have given way to electronic versions. Books, whether they are paperbacks or digital editions, are the finest method to broaden a child’s thinking.
Even if you’re the busiest parent in the world, you may still want your child to develop a reading habit, among other things. If you have a qualified nanny with extensive teaching experience, you won’t have to worry about your youngster spending the whole day on a tablet but not reading anything worthwhile. Sirwiss has partnered with multifunctional nannies to address the significance of making reading a consistent part of your child’s life. Read on and learn why and how you should instill a love of reading in your youngster.
The Advantages of Reading to Children
Babies and young children absorb almost everything in their surrounds. Even during story time, their brains are busy processing all of the words they hear and concepts they learn. Reading to your youngster, at any age, can help their brain development, strengthen your relationship, and much more. All it takes is a few books, some determination, and some effort.
1. Bonding
Having a shared love of reading is a fantastic way to bond with your kid. It’s a great opportunity for connection and relaxation in the midst of a busy day. A study conducted found that reading together helps strengthen parent-child bonds. Being read to creates a sense of safety in children. Moreover, parents and teachers who value reading and learning provide a good example for their charges.
2. Listening Skills
You should not assume that your kid will automatically understand a narrative just because they hear you read it aloud. And the ability to listen attentively, or understanding, is essential. Scholastic’s experts state that learning to listen is the first step in teaching a child to read. They recommend listening to books on audio with your youngster in addition to reading aloud together. The addition of goofy voices, music, and other effects may make them rather entertaining.
3. Linguistic and Cognitive Development
Hearing a parent or caregiver read to a child, even a young one, is beneficial for the youngster. Babies who are read to and spoken to have better linguistic and cognitive development, including problem-solving, as shown in recent research. Further studies have shown that this connection persists into the adolescent years. Reading aloud and conversing with early children has been linked to improved language and IQ scores in children up to the age of 14.
4. Improved Vocabulary
Reading aloud to children has been shown to increase both their vocabulary and their vocabulary range, as explained by experts at the National Center for Early Childhood Development, Teaching and Learning. Considering that many of the terms you encounter in the books you read are ones that you may not often use in conversation. It’s possible that reading a book may cause you to use more descriptive words and more precise nouns to refer to things like flora and animals. This is starting to rise quickly. Reading aloud to a kid in the years leading up to kindergarten has been shown to increase their vocabulary by an estimated 1.4 million words compared to children who are not read to routinely.
5. Levels of Concentration
Reading to children is an excellent way to help them learn to focus and control their impulses. At some point, you have undoubtedly had to cope with a fidgety, uninterested child during story time. Reading on a daily basis may teach children to listen attentively for the sake of comprehension. They are more likely to remain seated, pay attention, and strengthen their memorization abilities while listening.
6. Creativity
Books and narratives introduce your youngster to a whole new universe, and there are several factual books about dinosaurs, bugs, and aircraft. Fiction books, on the other hand, go beyond the actual world and include fantasy aspects that encourage children to think beyond the box. Children already have great imaginations, so reading allows them to expand on them. Experts often emphasize the importance of creativity in developing interests and ideas, as well as in encouraging emotional health.
7. Experiences in Life
Reading books together is a great way to have age-appropriate conversations about actual life’s concerns. Young readers are drawn to books about children their own age engaging in the typical pursuits of that age group. Reading books on certain topics might help youngsters feel less alone when confronted with novel experiences, such as the introduction of a new sibling to the family or potentially distressing experiences, such as a trip to the pediatrician or death of a beloved pet.
8. Character Development in Social and Emotional Skills
A child’s full potential can only be realized when all aspects of his or her development, not just the physical ones, are fostered. This includes the child’s spiritual (soul and spirit), social, cognitive, and emotional self. To achieve one’s full intellectual, emotional, social, physical, artistic, and spiritual potential is essential to humanity. An early love of reading may help youngsters cope with ” emotional, stressful and difficult conditions.” Experts recommend starting a conversation and assuring children that their feelings are normal by reading books about circumstances that can be difficult for them.
Make Your Children Love Books
The manner in which parents read to babies, toddlers, and preschoolers may have a significant influence on how much their children like reading and how quickly they learn to read on their own. Here are some easy ways to make the experience of reading books more enjoyable.
1. Take in Some Visually Stimulating Reading Material
The least helpful books for kids under 5 are those with simple photos, not illustrations, and little text. Compared to illustrated books, these don’t start as many conversations, which are important for a child’s development, according to experts.
2. Ask Questions Based on What They See in the Illustrations
Experts agree that children between the ages of 16 and 24 months get the most vocabulary growth in terms of words per day. The nouns in a book, such as “dog” and “tree,” are the first words a child may learn and label. You may engage your preschooler or toddler in conversation about what they see by asking them questions like “What is the dog doing?” when they see a picture of a dog. The ability to swiftly add new parts of speech builds on children’s existing knowledge of nouns.
3. Make Use of Reading to Start a Discussion
Even though there are many benefits to reading, it is not essential that you read the whole book. The quality of the dialogue you experience while reading is what counts most. Children’s real-world learning and social development benefit from parents who are patient and open to their children’s inquiries (no matter how many there may be!). Just start asking questions based on the pictures and see where the discussion takes you.
4. Try Out Some Amusing Voice Impersonations and Sounds
It may be awkward to use onomatopoeic language around your kid, but she or he will benefit from hearing it (and will adore seeing your silly side). Experts argue that exposing a youngster to a wide range of voices and sounds helps them develop aural discrimination skills that are necessary for reading and writing. Knowing and understanding these phonetic building blocks can help your kids develop into fluent word communicators.
5. Make Connections Between Fiction and Reality
Discuss an occasion when you both went to the park or the grocery store together while reading a novel about characters doing such things. To initiate a conversation on a tale with kids aged 3 and above, use the “who, what, where, and why” format of open-ended inquiries. Your child will have a much easier time remembering what she has read and what she has learned in terms of vocabulary and grammar if you encourage her to draw parallels between the story and her own life.
When and How Should You Start Reading to Your Child?
The time to begin is now! Children of all ages, from babies to preschoolers and beyond, benefit from having someone read to them. To begin, you need not even own a sizable collection of books.
Reading to Your Baby
To engage babies under six months of age, books should have basic, but strong or colorful graphics with plenty of contrast. You may read aloud to your child without worrying about the words on the page. Between the ages of seven and twelve months, babies are at an ideal age for books with single sentences or short phrases that explain the story. Books containing photos of other children engaged in typical activities may be appealing to infants aged 12 to 18 months. Books featuring animals, TV characters, or other pop culture references are subject to the same criticism. Books with more complex illustrations and a straightforward plot would be appropriate for this age range.
Reading to Your Child
There is a large variation in reading ability among children in preschool and elementary school. While deciding which books to read, it’s best to follow professional recommendations. Smaller children (and maybe even some older ones) may enjoy a story with more illustrations and less words. It is a good time to introduce your child to tales with more involved storylines and books that have more text than illustrations, or even chapter books. Include your youngster in the reading process as they develop their reading skills by having them read aloud words or phrases to you. Excellent training! There’s no need to wait until the end of the book or chapter to verify your child’s understanding; simply, ask questions as you go. Try asking them what they anticipate will happen in the future.