Reading is one of the most rewarding skills a child can learn. It becomes the base for all of their learning and it is also one of the few abilities to strongly ensure further education beyond a child’s school years. But, to guarantee this happens, parents should consider starting their child’s reading education earlier. Not only does reading early help in a child’s literacy development, but it is also reflected in their neurological make-up, socialization, and concentration.
Reading Puts Your Kids Ahead Because...
Lifelong learners begin with you, The Parents
Some studies suggest that beginning any education in a child’s life at an early age helps create a lifelong learner, which, of course, can be especially true with literacy skills. Developing these begins with parents reading to children right from the time they are born until they can comprehend and even desire to read on their own. Encouraging children to read on their own at an early age -- at least under six years-old -- lays a foundation for future knowledge, lifelong readers, and -- hopefully -- lifelong learners.
Sensory experiences = faster learners
The biological aspects of a child’s brain are further developed and enhanced if he or she starts reading at an early age. This can be true of anything a child learns. Learning another language, for example, is something often noted for immediate and easier comprehension by children because their brains can physically hold and remember it in a way the adult brain doesn’t. But this theory proves especially true in reading. Young children have billions of active brain cells firing off that are ready to enhance or make new connections. By giving a child a book earlier on in life, you are strengthening their brains so they can physically handle learning later on.
The TV will melt your mind, a book does not
Parents often worry their children’s brains are turning to mush; that they are figurative goldfish with a memory span of maybe 15 seconds and every trip around the bowl of life is a new experience. But if you start your child reading from a young age, this doesn’t have to be a reality. Reading earlier in life helps develop a longer attention span and concentration, which, in a time of simulated life in minute pixilated form, is probably one of the best benefits your child can ever have.
Learning together: promoting a collective mindset
While often a solitary activity, reading still has strong roots in a communal frame of mind. Oral stories formed the basis of our narratives and were more often than not told to large groups of people. Discussion about a story -- either written or oral -- is largely beneficial to not just the child, but to people in general. Reading early encourages discourse and debate to continuously occur first in small ways, such as a child highlighting a particular part of a book or even questioning it with a parent. It leads to larger criticisms and questions, facts and answers, so the child is always learning from young to old.