Discover the benefits of reading in childhood

Foto de Mael BALLAND na Unsplash

There are many benefits of reading in childhood. After all, she is fundamental to the development of children's cognitive and communication skills. Long before learning to read, little ones can already become familiar with the physical format of the book and understand that it has pictures, that these pictures tell a story, and so on.

Because of this, contact with books can never be called “early”. Reading, literature, imagination, storytelling – and stories – favor continuous learning, the one we take with us for the rest of our lives.

In addition to this fundamental role of reading, the habit of reading also favors the learning of writing. Thus, in addition to being a great little reader, it is through contact with books that we form great little writers.

So how about exploring even more the powers of reading in your home? It is precisely through shared reading that we see the strength of these beautiful habits: reading and imagining.

The benefits of reading in childhood

In addition to being a delight to be done as a family, reading brings countless benefits to the child and also to the parents. See some of the impacts:

Strengthens the connection with those who read to the child (parents, family members or caregivers);

Develops attention, concentration, vocabulary, memory and reasoning;

Stimulates curiosity, imagination, creativity;

Helps the child to understand and deal with feelings and emotions;

Assists in the development of empathy (ability to put yourself in the other's shoes);

Minimizes behavioral problems such as aggression;

Develops oral language;

It favors the learning of writing;

It works as a continuous exercise of thought organization, which is expressed in speech and, later, in writing;

It is a way of exploring those themes that the child likes the most, informing and making communication more and more consistent.

Proper reading, combined with correct activities, generates incredible results

Therefore, books should always be part of the children's universe. And if possible, even from gestation!

There is no need to force any activity as learning comes naturally. Another important tip is to make reading part of the child's routine, which makes this moment even more natural.

After all, that is precisely what we seek: to make this moment more common in homes, in different families and their different organizations. In this way, we turn reading into a moment of pleasure, reflection and sharing. Reading doesn't have to be a boring chore.

Just as it is essential to provide adequate reading for each phase of the child, the way to encourage this reading also varies. We've listed some tips, separated by age, to make this moment even cooler!

Children from 0 to 1 year.

1. Explore rubber, plastic, fabric and textured books for free handling (because babies like to handle objects to become familiar with them);

2. Point to the pictures in the book and say out loud the name of what your child is looking at;

3. Turn the pages according to the baby's interest or help him turn;

4. Represent the figure you are showing with gestures or voice;

5. Imitate the sounds  that the baby makes and observe their reaction;

6. Ask questions about the things he is hearing and seeing;

7. Follow the baby's directions, either to read more, to repeat or stop;

8. Let the baby safely explore the book in the ways he best wants.

Children from 1 to 2 years old

1. Let the child choose a book he wants to read with you;

2. Use different voices to represent the different characters in the stories;

3. Ask questions so that the child can answer by pointing or talking;

4. Encourage her to make the sound of a certain animal ;

5. Smile and respond when the child speaks or points ;

6. Let the child turn the pages of the book;

7. Add more words about an image she points to;

8. Name and demonstrate actions and emotions in stories – not just read what's there;

9. Seek to understand what most attracts the child's attention and what are their favorite topics, and then invest in more books of the same genre or theme.

Children 2 to 4 years old

1. Ask questions about the images in the book for the child to answer;

2. Read books that present actions that children already understand as unusual. For example: ′′ The three little wolves and the bad pig ′′ ;

3. Give space for the child to comment on a figure or word, and value all the questions and comments that the child makes;

4. Encouraging the child to tell his favorite story, in his own way, without interference from you – remember that telling is also a way of recreating;

5. Show the child how things that happen in books are similar to what happens to us   ;

6. Talk about the characters' feelings and ask if she has ever felt that;

7. Encourage her to tell the stories in the book based on her own interpretation of the figures, images and scenes;

8. Invite the child to draw what he understood from the story, as this is also a way of appropriating the plot.

Children 4 to 6 years old

1. Spontaneously talk about the topics in the book;

2. Show the child that you are reading the words in the book, which allows them to identify the sound of each combination of letters ;

3. Read the story the way the author wrote it, without changing the strange and different words, which expands the child's vocabulary;

4. Follow the reading with your finger, so that the child can visually follow the letters and understand how the text is organized so that understanding can happen.

Children 6 to 8 years old

At this time of life, the child is already at a stage where imagination and creativity already have greater wings to fly. In part, this is due to the literacy process and the path taken by the family throughout the formation of the little reader.

1. Always encourage your little reader to read to you and help him whenever he notices any difficulty, but without accelerating or influencing the reading process too much;

2. Take turns reading whenever necessary, interspersing the lines of the characters in the book or page by page;

3. Be careful and don't turn reading into a burden for the child, not even an obligation;

4. Always ask the child to say what they know about the subject of the book , chat and explore the exchanges of knowledge between you. Let her surprise you!

Children 8 to 10 years old

In this age group, the child already has a very different relationship with reading. Which does not mean, however, that you will no longer have moments to share.

How about sharing the readings, from those recommended by the school to those you want to share just for the pleasure of reading?  Another suggestion is for each one to read their own book and then tell each other how the reading was! At that moment, you must be very careful and never stop reading to your little reader, even if he already masters writing and reading without difficulties.

Article written by Sidney Matias

Casa de Livro Blog