Plan reader

Reading is an activity that fosters the intellectual development of individuals, therefore it helps us grow as human beings. As parents, it is our duty to support our children by providing them with guidance towards such personal fulfillment and make them do their best in this sense. Books make us free, they give us wings, they make us fly, and this is why it is of utmost importance that we promote reading as an everyday activity in our children.

Some parents believe that what children read at school is more than enough, but this is not true. Children who only read at school end up seeing this activity only as a compulsory activity that they have to do, which means that they will not get to really enjoy it, and neither will they get to understand reading as a crucial part of life. Many of these children would very much rather turn on the TV or play videogames at home instead of getting lost among the pages of a book. Such activities provide children with instant gratification that will, in time, turn out to be the source of important personal disappointment and dissatisfaction.

So, if we are to help our children become healthy and happy individuals in the future, we must foster reading by setting a good example at home and practicing what we preach.

In order for us to be fully convinced of the role Reading plays on the development of our children, we must understand its benefits:

 

• It helps develop imagination.
• It develops comprehension and children learn new words.
• It helps children express themselves in a more accurate way.
• It helps them have a better understanding of the world in a slow fashion, which enables them to take knowledge in a more effective way.
• It provides them with a sense of achievement that they can’t get from other activities.
• It is often linked to social relations, be them at home or at school, which helps them develop social skills.
• It helps develop hand-eye coordination.
• It helps study and work: the more we read, the easier we take in new information, concepts, procedures, etc.

All in all, it is of paramount importance for us parents to get involved in this activity with our children and to turn it into a family and personal moment of enjoyment. If we read with our little children and we take up that old habit, children will end up seeing it as something natural, educational and fun. Only twenty or thirty minutes a day can certainly change our children’s life and future for ever.