The Importance of Reading to Your Children

In this digital age of laptops, kindles, and tablets, curling up with a good book and a cup of tea or coffee is still Rina’s favourite activity while relaxing. Thankfully her nephew Ritam has also imbibed this habit, as she used to read to him every weekend on their playdates. He loved listening to fairy tales and short stories and had many questions starting with “why”. Sometimes, Rina had to Google them, but she never stopped trying to give him an answer. It encouraged him to ponder and imagine and nudged his already curious mind. The importance of books in the early years cannot be undermined even in this age of the Internet.

Benefits of Reading Books in Early Childhood

Grabbing a book and cuddling up with your child might seem just an excuse to spend some quality time with them, but it has long-term benefits that go beyond his childhood :

1. Nurturing Parent and Child Bond

The bond that develops between parent and child sets a positive life course. Reading your child’s favourite book to them creates a sense of intimacy and well-being, which encourages positive development. Infants might not be able to understand what you are reading to them. Still, the familiar voice of a parent provides a level of nurturing and reassurance, which helps in their mental and emotional development. This also improves communication with your child.

2. Sparking Imagination

Children are, by nature, imaginative. They love to listen to stories and characters and love to imagine places, times, events, and people the way they want. Books and stories open doors to creativity that help children with brain development.

3. Basis of Learning Abilities

You expose a child to different languages and vocabulary when you sit with them to read. They mentally walk the road with characters, share their experiences and environment and try to relate to them. These stories give them a sense of right and wrong in the real world. Moreover, there are essential skills which a child learns through reading aloud. Some of them are:

• Listening and basic communication skills
• Initial Speech Skills
• Reasoning and thinking skills
• Logical and numerical skills
• They learn to take responsibility for their actions and the consequences of doing the right things.

4. Complete Discipline and Enhanced Concentration

Little children and toddlers hardly sit in one place. They are distracted by the slightest disturbance. More often than not, they can only focus on games or activities for a short time. A regular reading habit gradually teaches them to focus and concentrate, and they eventually learn to sit through a whole book.

5. Better Performance in School

Reading and listening become habits for your child due to the reading routine, so they can adjust and adapt to the school environment quickly and naturally. Reading every day increases their attention span and retention power. It improves their language vocabulary, which helps them communicate in school. Since children spend quality time with parents while reading, it fosters a positive attitude towards books and studies.

6. Nurturing Empathy and Enhancing Emotional Awareness

Reading helps instil empathy in children towards different cultures, lifestyles and society. It helps them appreciate the differences in the world and accept them with respect, trust and compassion. You can also utilise this time to understand how your child feels in complex situations or how he might react to a particular phenomenon. It helps your child to open up to you about their basic feelings like happiness, sadness, jealousy, disgust and fear. They learn to emote healthily. This helps a child to grow up to be an open-minded and emotionally intense individual.

7. Reading Heals Anxiety

You may have noticed that some kids are more anxious and nervous than others. This anxiety can be harmful to their mental and emotional well-being in their growing years. Reading calms the mind and releases stress. With every new story, your child experiences a new situation and learns about new characters, which gives them the strength to cope with unknown incidents. They cope with negativity and adversities with a lot of strength and confidence.

8. Inculcates Learning Habit

The benefits of reading books every day in early childhood may be tiring for you but are a blessing to your child. This develops an inquisitive mind and fosters the need to learn. It shows a child that knowledge is the most wanted and powerful tool for survival. Once a child finds that strength in reading, it continues to be a lifelong habit they pass on to the next generation.

>> Also Read: Why Should You Buy Health Insurance for Children?

What to Read?

What to read to your child to maximise the benefits of early childhood reading is a perplexing question for any parent. When you have a newborn, your options are endless and not restricted to only children’s books. It is just your voice and words and the language that they hear. Content becomes vital once your child is old enough to understand the meaning of the words.

Reading books with relatable themes and topics or stories can encourage meaningful conversation and emotional sharing. Stories may open doors for conversations which otherwise become difficult and make your child comfortable enough to speak their minds.

It does not matter if they start reading on their own. You can still read them books that are higher than their ability level. This will continue to keep their interest in reading even when they can read on their own.

Now that we know about the benefits of books in early childhood, it can be safely said that books are indispensable for children. But in this digital age, what should you prefer? A physical book or an e-book?

Some researchers claim that you will bond with your child meaningfully only if you interact with a physical book. Nowadays, due to smartphones and tablets, you and your child are more comfortable scrolling down a screen, making it harder to focus and read on a screen. But e-books can sometimes be beneficial, especially when you are travelling or finding it difficult to get your hands on various books. It is essential, however, to ensure the content is engaging and meaningful.

Ways to Make Reading Fun for Your Children

The importance of reading in the early years cannot be emphasised enough. But, not all children are obedient and calm enough to sit with you and read books unless you make it a fun-filled activity that he is forced to enjoy. Here are some tips and tricks you can use to spark your toddler's interest in reading :

1. IInvolving your children in selecting the book, theme, and story is a good idea. You can ask questions in between to hold their attention and interest.
2. Introduce new themes and learnings every week according to your child’s preferences. For example, animals can be your reading theme for one week, and for the next, flowers or even birds.
3. Decorate a comfortable zone or area in your home or room only for reading. It can be an inviting and exciting play tent or a cosy nook.
4. Some kid's books come with puppets and other accessories that help your child play along with the characters in the story. Even if your child is not a reader and cannot concentrate long enough, a puppet show of characters will engage them in the story completely.
5. Please keep your child’s books on shelves or cabinets his size. This way, books will always be accessible to your child.
6. For further motivation and encouragement, you can also celebrate book-reading successes and display them for your child to feel proud of.

In a Nutshell

It would help if you gave importance to these benefits of reading in early childhood. You might face initial hiccups while trying to make your child sit through the reading sessions, but gradually you will see a marked improvement in his mental well-being and social behaviour. A child who is a loner or likes to stay aloof may become strongly interactive and communicative. A book becomes his strength and your relief.

A healthy mind and healthy body go hand-in-hand. This makes it important to invest in a comprehensive health insurance plan that covers the entire family. This will provide peace of mind knowing that your loved ones are protected.

Disclaimers: All plan features, benefits, coverage, and claims underwriting are subject to policy terms and conditions. Kindly refer to the brochure, sales prospectus, and policy documents carefully.