Children Should Be Required to Read More
Almost all the parents want their child to be intelligent. Every parent yearns for their child to be well-groomed, brilliant and smart. This is why parents spend a lot of their time in trying to search for the best schools for their children and expect the teachers to be exceptionally outstanding. However, they forget the fact that their own attitudes and habits have a great effect on the personality of a child. Thus, the parents must realize that by making books an essential part of their children's lives, they can heighten the wisdom and learning potential of their child more than a school teacher can help to increase ("Early Moments sharing the gift of reading").
It is not by an accident, brainwave, infection or encouragement that children learn to read. They learn to read when they are taught to do so. Reading cannot be explained as a phenomenon that occurs naturally. Children learn to read independently by attaining component skills little by little. The love for reading in a child only develops when the home environment emphasizes on reading for pleasure. As said before, children cannot be forced or encouraged to read. It is only through creating a proper reading environment in the home that a child naturally becomes a reader. Along with other recreations, this is an important step to involve the growing child in pleasure reading. It is the duty of the parents to read and converse with their child or children to get them in a habit and love for reading. It must be understood by every parent that reading to their child will make the child ready to learn to read. They must realize that to keep the books in the bookshelves by buying them from different shops or borrowing from libraries is not enough ("Daily Herald" 2).
It is not an unknown fact that it is a good thing to read to the kids. However, many of us do not know the particular advantages reading could bring to a toddler. It is wise to expose the children to the merits of reading as this single habit would help them to get along in an ever-changing modern world ("Early Moments sharing the gift of reading"). In order to enable a child to turn out to be an eager, fluent and passionate reader, parents are required to provide an in-home program for the child. The preschool years through fourth standard hold significant importance in the regard to develop in children an enthusiasm for reading. This time period of a child's life is exceedingly significant to cultivate and encourage a child's love for reading. It is in these years that the reading skills are developed which later become automated in the personality of an individual. Children are thus required to read to prepare themselves for the future. There must be a passion of reading to be inculcated in their blood to enable themselves to understand, interpret and comprehend a variety of topics. It is extremely imperative to supervise a child during his years of schooling. Management and care of the educational activities of a fifth-grader is the sole responsibilities of parents if they want their child to be well-prepared for the upcoming years (Copperman 223).
The question arises that why is too much stress inflicted on the idea that children are required to read more? The answer is simple. It is at home that a child adopts his habits from and his personality is affected mainly by the environment he watches at home. At schools, the child is required to read material that is primarily focused to acquire information. The books that are related to the subjects are not enough. There is a need of outside reading to comprehend and understand the material written in the textbooks. A parent must never neglect the importance of reading to children at home. Textbooks either fail to develop a passion or provoke little love for reading in a child. The child assumes it a labor and anxiety-developing task to read the boring material presented in the curriculum. The teachers at school require the child to spend an hour or two at home to complete the assigned tasks. Although this requirement is justifiable but on the other hand it does not provide pleasure to the children. Thus, if a child has always been living in an environment where pleasure reading is prevailing, he finds his homework interesting enough too. The students who have been an environment at home where his parents involved themselves in pleasure...
They enjoy completing the assignments given to them as they feel themselves extremely comfortable to accomplish the reading part (Copperman 225). Pleasure reading develops a love for books which is extremely important for a child to be successful and knowledgeable enough to compete in the forthcoming years of his life.
On the contrary, the children who do not have an idea of pleasure reading find themselves extremely helpless to complete the assigned tasks. The negligence at home or little pleasure reading makes it difficult for them to consider reading an enjoyable challenge. As they are not known of the reading strategies and lack reading skills, they find it hard to understand and comprehend the real meaning of textbooks. For them, reading becomes an entirely boring, mind-numbing and unexciting process (Copperman 225). This kind of brought up where pleasure reading is not given a value turns out be really disadvantageous and inconvenient for the children in their future. Such children, when grow up, find it really hard to survive in the ever-changing contemporary world where information and knowledge has become the only merit required.
It is also to be made sure that there is enough time and the availability of good books for reading. The best routine is to do reading with the child for half an hour or an hour a day to develop the habit and love for reading. In this way, not only the child will be able to increase his vocabulary but he will be able to connect with his parents emotionally. It is also important to discuss the matter contained in the books with the children. This is required to check whether the child is just reading as a task or is taking interest to understand the meaning and moral behind the text of the book or story. Visits to the library can also be a fruitful way to encourage the children to read more. The parents must make it certain that they take time out of their busy schedules and visit libraries along with the children (Copperman 224). This kind of a schedule will not only bring a change in the day-to-day routine but it will also add an interesting ingredient to the family life.
The habitual experience of being together with the family and reading during this time has great benefits for the positive development of a child. The day spent at school by a child is equivalent to the day spent at work by the parent(s). Thus, reading together daily proves to be a beneficial way of relaxation and getting away from the pressure and demands at the school and workplace (Copperman 226).
Children are required to read more so that they can acquire an advanced propensity for knowledge and learning on the whole. Research and statistics prove that the children who were exposed to reading during their preschool years do better in all the facets of their academic years. Their academic excellence is the resultant of the time they spend in reading the outside books along with their text books. It is ridiculous, on the other hand, to expect a child who doesn't have a love for reading to be able to do well in all the subjects and understand every word taught at school ("Early Moments sharing the gift of reading").
Children who have a habit of reading also have an advantage of better communication skills. A child who is read to or reads daily has a deep understanding of the interactions and relationships of the characters. Thus, such reading-lovers have an added positive personal trait of expressing themselves. They can relate to the ongoing situations and other people in an emotionally-strong way ("Early Moments sharing the gift of reading").
The contact with the parents during the reading time also develops a stronger connection among both the parties. Reading, as a nurturing activity, helps in bringing the parent(s) and children together. As the school age is approached, the reading habit can help the child to master various languages as well. Children are required to develop a passion for reading as it helps them to take hold of various abstract concepts. Readers can easily face a number of scenarios by applying logics and using common sense. They can identify both the cause and effect and are good in judgment. They have a good sense of relating with the outside world and possess more reasonable and accepted wisdom ("Early Moments…
