Benefits of Reading

The benefits of reading start with the first book a baby hears and continue into childhood and throughout the child's life.

Here are the 10 Benefits of Reading - the Top 10 reasons why reading is important and why children – and adults! - should read often and widely.

10 Benefits of Reading

1. Kids who read often and widely get better at it.

This is pretty much just common sense.

After all, practice makes perfect in almost everything we humans do and reading is no different from anything else.

2. Reading exercises our brains.

Reading is a much more complex task for the human brain than, say, watching TV is.

Reading strengthens brain connections and actually builds new connections.

3. Reading improves concentration.

Again, this is a bit of a no-brainer.

Children have to sit still and quietly so they can focus on the story when they’re reading. If they read regularly, they develop the ability to do this for longer periods.               

4. Reading teaches children about the world around them.

Through reading, children learn about people, places and events outside their own experience. They are exposed to ways of life, ideas and beliefs about the world which may be different from those which surround them.

This learning is important for its own sake however it also builds a store of background knowledge which helps younger children learn to read confidently and well.

5. Reading improves a child’s vocabulary and leads to more highly-developed language skills.

This is because children learn new words as they read but also because they unconsciously absorb information as they read about things like how to structure sentences and how to use words and language effectively.

6. Reading develops a child’s imagination.

This is because when we read our brains translate the descriptions we read of people, places and things into pictures. When we’re engaged in a story, we’re also imagining how the characters are feeling. We use our own experiences to imagine how we would feel in the same situation.

7. Reading helps kids develop empathy.

This is something I've only recently realised but it makes sense. As my fifteen-year-old son said to me when we were discussing it, ‘Of course it does because you’re identifying with the character in the story so you’re feeling what he’s feeling.’

8. Children who read do better at school.

And they don’t just do better at subjects like reading, English and history. They do better at all subjects and they do better all the way through school.

9. Reading is a great form of entertainment!     

A paperback book or an e-reader like the Amazon Kindle doesn’t take up much space so you can take it anywhere and you’ll never be lonely or bored if you have a book in your bag.

You can read while waiting in a queue, while waiting for a friend who’s running late or during a flight delay at an airport.

10. Reading relaxes the body and calms the mind.

This is an important point because these days we seem to have forgotten how to relax and especially how to be silent.

When we read, we read in silence and the black print on a white page is much less stressful for our eyes and brains.