9 Reasons why you should read to your child

Frankly I have never been a bookworm and I don’t think I’ll raise my little one to become one. But what I will do is inculcate the culture of reading books. I say ‘culture of reading books’ because I feel it is somehow endangered thanks to gadgets and gizmos invading the written word with videos and interactive tutorials. Though I am not completely against the videos, but as parents we need to get back our kids into the reading habit that was more or less a ritual than a chore when we grew up.

Besides the threat of reading going extinct, here are 9 good reasons why you should be reading to children, and how it is beneficial to both of you:

1. Builds thinking skills

Books help your child to build thinking skills early. It also helps to develop their cognitive and analytical skills.

2. Basics of reading

When you start reading to your child from an early age, it helps your child inculcate the basics of reading a book – flipping the pages, words are read from left to right, the continuation of a story from one page to another, etc.

3. Grows Imagination

There are a large variety of books to cater to children, and children love the books that have a variety of colourful pictures. While listening to you animatedly explaining the book, your toddler grasps information much better – thus developing his or her listening skills and imagination.

4. Boosts Concentration:

Reading to your child daily betters your child’s concentration and in turn promotes a longer attention span. You will gradually notice them pointing out to a particular part of the book or imitating your reading style.

5. Expands knowledge

So once your child starts knowing about, let’s say birds from you, he’ll then be more interested in knowing about the birds he spots in a garden. And soon he’ll be reading about types of birds, their habitats and more.

6. Raises your child’s IQ

A study by Psychologists has concluded that “reading to a child in an interactive style raises his or her IQ by over 6 points.”

7. More reading equals more writing

If your child is a school going kid, reading to them more can help them to write more and thereby develop your child’s linguistic and writing skills at a crucial stage of their development.

8. Strengthens your bond with your child

Reading to your child helps them build a lasting intimate bond with you and smoothens your communication with them.

9. Reading does not become a chore

An early start to inculcating the reading habit in your child makes him learn that reading is fun and not a chore, thereby alleviating your stress of getting your child to read.

Having listed out the reasons, I’ll leave you with this quote by Dr. Seuss :

The More you Read,
The More things you will Know,
The More you Learn,
The More places you’ll Go!

Do you read to your child? If yes, which books are your favourites?

Mom to a toddler, Gauri Kamath is an avid reader, writer and pens her thoughts on her blog Survival of the Optimist. Though she holds a Masters degree in Marketing, her true passion is writing and has co-authored a book on short stories – 6 Degrees. She is based in Mumbai.