One of the skills you should work on with your child in preparation and support of the learning they will do at school is reading. It forms the foundations of school life as children must be able to read to learn, participate in class activities and further their knowledge. Also, it introduces children to new words, helping them to expand their vocabulary and get what they want to communicate across. Here are some lesser-known benefits to reading shared by a prep school in Buckinghamshire.
Builds General Knowledge
Aside from the obvious benefits, reading helps children with their understanding of the wider world as they are exposed to a range of themes and can learn about other’s perspectives.
Strengthens Thinking Skills
When reading children exercise their imagination and other key thinking skills such as problem solving. They must use their imagination to grasp what is happening in the story and are encouraged to form their own ideas and opinions.
Improves Comprehension
Additionally, reading can improve a child’s overall comprehension skills as having a higher level of vocabulary can help children with their understanding.
Reading for Improved Sleep
Many turn to books when they struggle to sleep as it relaxes the brain, helping children get to sleep much faster than they would being on their devices or doing anything physically demanding.
To help your child receive these benefits, ensure that they spend at least 15-20 minutes reading a day as recommended by schools. Even if they are not yet at the stage to read, hearing someone else read out loud can improve a child’s spoken vocabulary and take them one step closer to reading for themselves. This could be right before bed in the form of story time or a play activity using pop up books. The key to getting children to comply and enjoy reading is finding material they are actually interested in that matches their reading ability.
