Reading is an essential skill in children’s education. It develops concentration, imagination, vocabulary and much more. In this blog, we’ll discuss six reasons ‌children must learn to read and foster these skills as they grow.

1. Cognitive and psychological development

Reading with your children stimulates their brain cells, strengthens them, and forms connections with more brain cells. It’s the basis of their intellectual ability and helps them become good listeners and communicators.

When children learn to read, they gain an understanding of the world around them, including knowledge that helps them make sense of what they see, hear, and learn. It’s a critical foundation for developing logic and problem-solving skills. Cognitive development involves the construction of thought processes: decision making, memory, and problem solving from childhood onward.

2. Fosters communication skills

The earlier children learn to read, the faster they expand their vocabulary. Reading enables them to learn new words, concepts and ways of expressing themselves each day, and improves their grammar. Dialogue between characters in books provides children with tools they can use in their own lives, whether it’s communicating with their friends or with other adults. Books can also teach etiquette and how to be a friendly person.

3. Develops confidence and independence

Children grow in confidence and independence as they learn to use words they didn’t know previously. A base vocabulary—along with associating meaning and correct pronunciation, spelling, and grammar to words—reveals patterns in the words they read and gives children more confidence to learn new vocabulary with minimal help from teachers or parents.

Becoming competent and confident in reading may also improve their public speaking skills, which is helpful in many situations.

4. Enables learning and achievement

Research shows if a child is not reading at grade level by the third grade, their ability to achieve academic success becomes limited. After the third grade, students read to learn other subjects like science, social studies and math, do homework, answer test questions, and interact with the world outside of school. Students gain knowledge from reading books; those who are avid readers ‌perform better academically. Just 15 minutes a day of reading can nurture this growth.

Regular reading improves concentration abilities and attention spans. The longer children can sit with a book, the easier it is to be patient, still, and listen to a teacher or other students in a classroom.

Even simple children’s books can teach young children important lessons about people and growing up. They learn and share information about nature, animals, and other cultures, broadening their knowledge by reading stories about people, places, and things. Children with strong literacy skills become competent researchers.

Reading a broad range of books develops children’s ability to understand a variety of texts and can nurture a lifelong love of reading.

5. Sparks curiosity and creativity

Children must be curious to learn. Reading stories allows children to explore what’s unknown to them and become interested in certain topics, whether art or science. They also learn about different people and cultures.

Imagination is a requisite for creativity. Learning about characters and what they look like, places, situations, events, times, and dialogue helps children visualize their own environment and expect what’s coming. Imagination sparks the creativity that helps children build other life skills. When children read stories, they develop their analytical skills besides satisfying their curiosity.

Bonus: Books also keep them off screens!

6. Develops relationships and empathy

Before children know how to read, having parents read to them can be a positive experience. They learn that reading involves focusing from left to right and turning pages. Reading to children even before the age of one can help with language acquisition and stimulating the part of their brain that processes language. Parents may find it relaxing to fantasize and wonder with their child before bed. Stories may also trigger conversations and questions that help a child learn and express themselves. Reading with your children can be an enjoyable activity that they’ll later associate with positively; children who value books read on their own and hold reading as a value for the rest of their lives.

Reading allows children to understand their emotions and enhance emotional and social development. As they learn new words, they associate feelings with words and express themselves better to others. Books contain stories with characters and their perspectives, which teach children to be empathetic, see things from others’ points of view, and gain a sense of morality. Children who read could learn to be a better friend and family member!

Reading takes on a crucial role in SISD’s curriculum. We celebrated Literacy Week by encouraging our students to dress up as their favourite book character, bring their favourite book to school and read more. Encouraging reading over the summer is also a great way to improve literacy in students.

For more information about our programmes, contact our Admissions team at admissions@sisd.ae.