Key points from the article:
- Building Vocabulary
- Exercise for your brain
- Perspective
- Books provide you with a sense of belonging
- Conversation Starter
- Helps you distress
- Reading improves concentration
There is no friend as loyal as a book- Ernest Hemingway.
There are a lot of benefits to reading. It expands your imagination, opens up your world to new experiences and provides solace in times of need. You could be interested in fiction, autobiographies or self help books, those who love to read can’t deny the impact the books which they’ve enjoyed thoroughly has made in their life. Studies have shown that reading for pleasure makes a huge difference to a child’s educational performance. Likewise, evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment everyday perform better in reading tests than those who don’t. Reading also helps in developing a better and broadened vocabulary, increases general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures.
The many advantages of reading are:-
- Building Vocabulary:-
Reading books is all about listening, understanding and working out what is printed on the page. While listening to stories children are exposed to a wide range of words and the context they can be used in. The faculty at Shivneri boarding school believe that by hearing and reading books kids will develop a vocabulary of their own. By reading a book they’re interested in, kids are far more likely to incorporate the words they’ve read into their everyday vocabulary. It’s important for children to understand how stories work. Even if they don’t understand every word they’ll hear new words and phrases which they can then try out, copying what they’ve heard. One of the best ways to develop a reading habit is by reading to small children and finding out about their hobbies and interests and then giving them books on those topics. Reading books on what they love gets them closer to falling in love with reading.
Our role as teachers is to provide the best facilities to your children, to give them the best learning opportunities and the curiosity to learn more.
- Exercise for your brain:-
We begin to develop the language skills required to read right from the babies’ first gurgles. The various sounds your baby listens to from his immediate environment are key factors in setting up the language acquisition skills required for the brain to form a language- based communication system which includes reading.
One of the key advantages of reading is that it keeps your mind engaged. Reading requires the activation of your brain as it engages with the frontal lobe which handles speech production, reading fluency, grammatical usage along with comprehension making it possible to understand simple and complex grammar in their native language. Reading also activates the temporal lobe which is responsible for phonological awareness and is responsible for decoding/discriminating sounds.
The angular and supramarginal gyrus serves as a reading integrator, a conductor of sorts linking the different parts of the brain together to execute the action of reading. These areas of the brain connect to the letter C, A and T to the word cat that we can then read aloud.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/heres-why-it-is-important-to-read-in-front-of-kids/articleshow/68581351.cms
- Perspective:-
The lockdown was one of the most tiring, fearful and confusing time for most of us. Being stuck in the house sometimes felt like house arrest. Those who love reading have spent hours upon hours engrossed into the words, living their life and escaping their own.
Reading takes us outside of our bubble, allowing you to see the world in a different light. Reading a book is like stepping into a world that’s made by the author and even though you don’t know what’s going to happen next, your anticipation to read the end of that story keeps you going back for more.
- Books provide you with a sense of belonging:-
We’ve all had days where we’ve felt misunderstood, not appreciated and lost. It may sound silly but those who love reading have always found books to be their saving grace. Whichever genre of books you may prefer, what’s undeniable is how you get a sense of belonging, giving you hope during your struggle reminding us that we are not alone. We are a boarding school which means that kids will at times spend weeks, even months apart from their parents and will miss them inevitably. In times like these, children can pick up books, get lost in their magical stories and get a sense of belonging and understood.
- Conversation Starter:-
Reading is great for your mind and your soul but it’s also an amazing conversation starter. No matter where you are, if you meet someone who shares your interest of book reading and has also read the same book you have, you already have something to talk about! Reading more books means taking in more information, which can connect you to people from all over the world.
- Helps you distress:-
Kids today are under a lot of pressure. A recent study found that a mere six minutes of reading can be proven to reduce muscle tension, it slowed down the heart rate of readers. Stress levels were reduced by upto 68%. Reading is the ideal way to relax, calm down and then deal with the stress at hand with a calmer mind that’s more focused.
- Reading improves concentration
With the help of reading, one can learn to train their mind to concentrate better. While reading books one must be present in the moment to fully grasp what they’re reading. A religious reading habit will teach kids on how to push aside any external factors that are hampering their task at hand and will definitely carry this great skill forward and use it in whilst studying.
We at Shivneri boarding school have identified reading as one of the key ingredients in your child’s life. Reading skills are important for your child’s success in school as it allows them to access the breadth of the curriculum and let’s them improve their skills. Reading is like exercise for your mind. It keeps you calm, relaxes you while being informative.