The Benefits of Reading and Storytelling For Children, Both in and Out of the Classroom.

 

During the 2020 quarantine, I have been asked many times my opinion about the benefits of reading in online classes. Many questions have been posed to me such as "How do we monitor our students?", "Does it really help?" or "Wouldn’t we be better off worrying about the more important subjects?" Well, there is no skill more important for students than reading, every subject can be taught through the use of books with the majority of subjects requiring varying degrees of reading skills. For this reason alone, it is obvious that when students become accustomed to reading, and it becomes a part of their daily lives, that their ability to study will be heightened as will the overall academic results that they achieve. Yes, there are many people who deny the benefits of reading, but generally speaking, we find that the majority of these people base their opinions on financial restraints, and whilst this is relevant in many educational systems, it could never be a respectable argument against the benefits of reading.

It is impossible for anyone to deny that a child’s reading skills are important to their success in school, work, and life in general. The majority of the world's most successful educators and business leaders have all read enormous amounts of books in their lives. In addition, when evaluating the most successful education systems in the world, you will find that they are all heavily based upon the use of books, (Electronic or physical), and reading. A child who grows up with a love of reading, a love that they nurture and expand upon throughout their lives undoubtedly, in the majority of cases, experiences greater success in life. 

Reading allows us to be transported from our own world to another. Between the pages of a book, we can become immersed in the lives of fictional characters and learn about a culture entirely different from our own. We can also learn new words and phrases, experience a range of emotions, and acquire skills and knowledge.

Because of the learning potential, the effects of reading on child development are vast and multiple studies have highlighted its benefits. As such, teachers and parents are in a great position to ensure reading is a key part of children’s daily routine. We’ll give you some more information as to why this is so important and provide some tips that you can use both in and out of the classroom.

What Are the Benefits of Reading for Children?

There are multiple other benefits that reading can have on a child’s development, including:

Assisting with cognitive development. Cognitive development refers to how we perceive and think about our world in reference to our intelligence, reasoning, language development, and information processing. By reading to children, you provide them with a deep understanding about their world and fill their brains with background knowledge. They then use this acquired background knowledge to make sense of what they see, hear, and read, which aids their cognitive development.

Developing empathy. When we read a book, we put ourselves in the story in front of us. This allows us to develop empathy as we experience the lives of other characters and can identify with how they are feeling. Children can then use this understanding to empathize in the real world with other people. Additionally, children will gain a greater understanding of emotions, which can help them understand their own emotions and those of others. This helps dramatically with their social development.

Gaining deeper understanding. A book can take us anywhere: to another city, to a different country, or even to an alternative world. By reading a book, a child learns about people, places, and events that they couldn’t learn otherwise. This gives children a deeper understanding of the world around them and cultures that are different from their own.

What is the Importance of Stories in a Childs Education?

Reading with children can help to create a love of reading for life. Multiple studies have found a correlation between reading for pleasure and higher academic achievement in every subject, not just English.

The benefits of reading with children on their education is far-reaching:

Improved literary skills. Reading with aloud with young children, even if they can’t fully understand what you are saying, gives them the skills they need for when they begin to read by themselves. It shows children that reading is something achieved by focusing from left to right and that turning pages is essential for continuing. Reading to children in even the earliest months of their lives can help with language acquisition and stimulating the part of the brain that processes language.

Extensive vocabulary. Hearing words spoken aloud can expose children to a range of new vocabulary and phrases that they may not have heard otherwise. By reading to a child daily, they’ll learn new words every single day.

Greater concentration skills. Regular and consistent reading can help to improve a child’s concentration abilities. Furthermore, it will help a child learn to sit still and listen for long periods of time, which will benefit them in their schooling.

Higher levels of creativity and imagination. Reading a book relies on us using our imagination for picturing characters, visualizing their settings and environment, and guessing what’s coming next. We must use our imagination if we are to learn about other people, places, events, and times. In turn, this developed imagination leads to greater creativity as children use the ideas in their heads to inform their work.

Finally, the more that a child is read to, and the more that they read themselves, the better they will become at it. Practice really does make perfect and, the more a child reads, the better their overall academic achievement and social skills, like empathy, will be.

I hope that you enjoyed this article and found it helpful.

Good luck and good teaching.