Reading is the process of constructing meaning from written texts.
Reading is so important and that made it to be regarded as the key to learning.
Becoming a lifetime reader is based on developing a very deep love for reading at a tender age.
A child who reads will grow up to become an adult who thinks.
The importance of reading books are so enormous because books stimulate creativity, helps in communication, draw you towards perfection, provide entertainment, helps you to travel across time intelligently,encourage imagination to soar,makes you smarter and wiser,helps you to gain more knowledge, helps you to gain experience, increases comprehension, make the best of friends, makes you powerful, increases understanding, builds self confidence etc
Looking at the importance enumerated above, it is therefore a sacred duty of all stakeholders especially parents and teachers to always make sure they read books aloud to kids because there is a magic in reading books aloud to children.
It is very important to note that, there is great warmth and closeness that reading generates between you and your children, the opportunities for conversation and mutual understanding that are opened up by the stories, linguistic and pre-reading skills and positive attitudes toward reading that children develop when they are read to.
Reading stories to children provide a simplified simulation world that helps them make sense of and they seriously learn to navigate our complex real world.
The fact remains that,the aspects of our real world that are usually most challenging, most crucial for children to understand, are social aspects.
Knowing how to deal with evil as well as love , how to recognize others’ desires and needs, how to behave towards others so as to retain their friendship and how to earn the respect of the larger society are among the most important skills children must all develop for a satisfying life.
Attraction to stories is basic to human nature.Historically, stories long preceded the development of writing.
According to research findings,all human cultures, except those destroyed by conquerors and colonialists, have stories.
Stories are guidelines for living. The fact again remains that,before there was writing, stories were passed along orally from generation to generation.
Children hearing stories will learn about the beliefs and values of their culture. Interestingly it must might even be said that,a culture without stories is a culture without moral direction.
Stories describe the basic conflicts and dilemmas of human life and stimulate us to think about ways of resolving them.
Today, in literate cultures, stories are written down, and there are many more of them than there were in preliterate cultures and we pass them on more often through reading than through oral recitation from memory.
It has been found out that, once kids learn how to read, this parent-child reading ritual often ends, but that is very unfortunate.
It must be said that, reading aloud is one of the most important things parents and teachers must continue to do with children.
Reading aloud builds many important foundational skills, introduces vocabulary, provides a model of fluent, expressive reading and helps children recognize what reading for pleasure is all about.
Reading books aloud to children stimulates their imagination and expands their understanding of the world. It helps them develop language and listening skills and prepares them to understand written words.
Even after children learn to read by themselves, it’s still important for you to read aloud together.
In an era of high-stakes testing education reforms and revolutions, research has repeatedly proved that one simple parenting technique is among the most effective.
Children who are read aloud to by parents get a head start in language and literacy skills and go to school better prepared.
Reading aloud to young children, particularly in an engaging manner, promotes emerging literacy and language development and supports the relationship between child and parent.
Every time we read to a child, we are sending a message of pleasure to the child’s brain.
Reading aloud is, according to the landmark 1985 report “Becoming a Nation of Readers,” “the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading.”
Despite this advice, it is however very sad, some educators and many parents don’t read aloud to children from a young age and thus fail to nurture avid and skilled readers.
While the sacrifices to read aloud are few, the benefits are many: Your child may learn to read better, think better, imagine more richly, become a passionate and lifelong reader.
There is pleasure in spending time with your child and sharing the enjoyment of a good book.A reading nation is a winning nation.
Signed
Mathias Tulasi
Executive Director/Founder.
0200255295
