Reading promotes language skills and the acquisition of knowledge

Our daily lives basically assume that we can read and write, but it is not essential for survival. We are surrounded by writing everywhere that is more or less intended to inform us. Children notice this very early on, as they are naturally curious and eager to learn, but for a long time they cannot make sense of the many letters and words themselves.

Why are children's books and reading important?

However, reading does not always have to mean reading yourself. This also includes reading aloud, which should begin long before school age or even shortly after birth.

The earlier reading aloud begins, the sooner habits and rituals can be established. Reading automatically becomes an essential and natural part of life. The more natural reading is for children in everyday life, the greater the chance that they will become good readers later on.

A basic prerequisite for reading aloud is the ability of children to listen. This develops in the first few months of life, as the foundation for language is already being laid during this period.

Children's books can be a great help in the development of language. This starts with the first picture books. The learning process begins by looking at the pictures together with additional comments, explanations or stories.

This lays the foundation for later reading. This is then expanded upon over time as the texts gradually become longer and the images gradually fade into the background.

Why children's books?

In addition to language development, children's books also promote general education from the very beginning. This begins with the first picture books, where simple objects are illustrated and explained. There are now children's books suitable for every reading age and on almost every topic, which also explain larger contexts in easily understandable language and with additional illustrations.

As soon as children start reading for themselves, special children's books are available to them. These are often divided into books for beginning readers or for a certain reading age. The font size and text are adapted to the respective age. However, it is important that reading should be seen as natural as possible in this phase of life and that previous rituals, such as reading aloud before going to sleep, do not suddenly stop but are reintroduced.

Children's books are therefore not only important for learning to read and write. They are also an important part of early childhood development.

Reading even helps with math and against fake news

Reading with understanding means reading a text and understanding it at the same time. In the first year of school, children are given the tools to sound out letters and words, write them down and then read them. Of course, this begins word by word.

Some children can already read every sentence word for word at this stage, while others have difficulty doing so. Rarely is there a specific learning disorder that needs to be treated. Otherwise, it is sufficient to train the child to read with comprehension.

Parents realize how important this is when it comes to word problems in maths. After all, how can these be solved quickly and correctly if the child can read the sentences out loud but doesn't understand what he or she is supposed to do, or only understands it after reading them three times? The same applies to every other school subject!

And what is becoming increasingly important: reading and the associated absorption of knowledge helps later on to recognize fake news and untruths and to be able to judge them better.

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