If you ask me, I would prefer reading than watching, I love how reading keeps my mind working. When you’re reading you don’t need to pause to understand the dialogue, in reading you won’t need a subtitle and in reading you can have all the visual effects you want! Seriously, reading expands my vocabulary and helped me a lot in expressing my thoughts. And for a blogger like me, I need all the reading materials I can get.

I know reading a book  is very beneficial, specially to kids who’s just starting to learn. Here’s some of the benefits of reading from my perspective:

Reading improves vocabulary as well as writing skills. When you read, you encounter new terms and words and through reading, you learned the meaning of those words. An improved vocabulary can go a long way, acing an exam because you fully understood the instruction can be attributed to vocabulary. And with improved vocabulary, you can be better listener too as you know what other people is saying. Reading improves your writing skills through exposure to different types of writing and with that it helps you in organizing your thoughts and presenting your ideas. The improvement on vocabulary also helps in becoming a better writer.

Reading increases your knowledge and improves your memory. The many information one can get from reading is enough to improve the knowledge. From reading you can learn about culture and diversity, you can learn about the sharks without having to encounter one. It also improves your memory as reading stimulates your mind.

Improvement on concentration, focus and discipline can also be attained in reading. Concentration and focus increases as you read. Your brain is working as you read and because reading a book requires more time, your brain adapts to it and focuses more on what you are doing. Reading also improves discipline, simply because you are putting away “fun’ things so you can to sit down and read a book.

The 3 mentioned above, basically is the reason why I want my kids to love reading books. I encourage them as much as possible and with the help of a teacher friend (waves at Mahros) I was able to list down pointers on How to encourage Kids To Love Reading Books:

• It is very important that at least one of the parents love reading book or at least knows how to pretend reading. It doesn’t matter whatever you are reading (as long as it doesn’t look harmful to your kids), just seeing you read, the kids will be encouraged to read too. You know how kids are, they would always imitate their parents and would always want to please their parents. So go on, read and read  (or pretend to read) in front of your kids.

• Buy books for your kids as early as possible. Babies cannot read but it does not mean that they cannot appreciate books. In kids, reading does not always mean knowing and understanding the texts on the book, reading to them is as simple as holding a book and flipping the page. Your 3 month old baby will not recognize apple that soon, but the act of reading will leave a lasting impression to your baby.
• Teach them to respect books. You can do so by telling them the importance of books and some simple benefits they can get from reading. Putting the book in proper place is another way of teaching the kids to respect books. If your baby starts chewing or tearing the pages, give something to chew/tear and take the book from them, reading with them also helps since they will learn that book is for reading and not for chewing.

• Turn a small space into a mini library. Fill it with books and involve them in arranging the books. It does not only encourage reading, it encourage respect, discipline and creates a bonding moment for you and your kid.
• Bring your kids to libraries so they would know how a real library looks. It gives them a glimpse of how books should be taken care of and exposes them to different kinds of book. Any child is hungry for knowledge, bring them to a place where they can satisfy that hunger (and it’s not the internet OK).
• Bring them to book stores and let them shop for books. Teach them how to know if a certain book is appropriate for their age. Teach them how to decide if the book is worth the price through looking at the summary at the back of the book.
• Set a reading time in your house. For us, the best time so far is after lunch, 30 minutes a day is a good start.
• A post reading session is very helpful too. Ask your child about the book they just read, like the characters, ask them to give you a short summary as well as what their opinion about the book.
• Treat the kids out, bring the kids to museums, to parks, to playgrounds. This is very helpful as the child will never feel that because of reading they are deprived of fun things to do. Or just let them have fun inside your home. Kids will always be playful and letting them enjoy their favorite activity (play) will make them a better reader.
• Lastly, giving praises to your kids is the best encouragement you can give. Help them when they can’t read a word, congratulate them when they finished a book and most of all give them a hug as if he just did the most wonderful thing (well actually they really did.. through reading!)

You will be amazed what reading can do to your child. Trust me, with 4 kids, 30  minutes a day reading is a lot! not just for the kids but for me too 🙂

How about, if you don’t have time to read? Or you do not have time to encourage your kid to read or sit down with them to read? How many hours do you spend on Facebook? How about on the shower? or on the TV? If you can make time for activities mentioned, why not MAKE TIME for reading.

I will leave you with one question..
 When was the last time you read a book?