Being able to read comfortably is necessary for getting through life in practical ways, but the benefits reach much farther than that. Reading builds knowledge and skills that lead to empathy, creativity, and self-confidence. Plus, it can be a source of great enjoyment and personal satisfaction.
In the middle of the school year, January and February often yield the biggest boosts in literacy skills. So whether your child is struggling, excelling, or chugging along, here are some ways to work together and encourage literacy.
Most people understand that reading is a fundamental skill, but you may not appreciate all the far-ranging benefits that come along with strong reading ability:
Reading leads to improved concentration and memory skills.
Reading ability is related to listening and understanding, which all lead to critical thinking and analysis skills.
Reading often leads to an expanded knowledge base, making people aware of diverse people, places, ideas and historical events.
Reading improves empathy and theory of mind skills, i.e. the ability to think about why people behave as they do. Theory of mind improves both self-regulation and social skills.
All of this also leads to self-esteem – a young person who is confident in representing their thoughts and opinions in speech and writing.
However, learning and practicing reading is hard work. All the different and brain systems your child must coordinate include: attention, visual processing, auditory processing, short- and long-term memory, reasoning, meaning-making, imagination, and social empathy.
As a parent, one of the most helpful thing you can do is create early positive associations and expectations around reading. Reading aloud to your children is beneficial throughout their entire childhood, not just the early years. Reading aloud is an opportunity for connection, and has been shown to reduce stress and improve kids' mental health.
A final note is that, while kids do learn to read at different paces, reading capability and confidence builds upon itself. Learning to read is one of the first activities in schooling in which your child has a clear comparison with their peers, and therefore is an early data-point in their self-concept of academic strength. It's worth investing time and effort to support your child so that they get up the hill and become an independent reader who views reading as a strength and source of enjoyment, rather than a source of anxiety or inadequacy.
