Some Benefits of Reading at Home

1. Reading to children has a positive impact on their outcomes.

Research suggests that reading to children every day from a young age has a direct effect on their outcomes at school, regardless of their family background and home environment. It has a significant positive effect on their reading skills and cognitive skills later in life. Reading to young children 6-7 days per week has the same effect as being almost 12 months older!

2. Reading exercises our brain.

Reading is a much more complex task for the human brain. It strengthens the brains connections and builds new ones as well.

3. Reading improves concentration.

Children have to be calm and still so that they can focus on the story when they are reading. If they read often, they will develop the skill to do this for longer.

4. Reading teaches children about the world around them.

Through reading a wide variety of books children learn about people, places, and events outside their own experience.

5. Reading improves vocabulary and language skills.

Children learn new words as they read. Subconsciously, they absorb information on how to structure sentences and how to use words and other language features effectively in their own writing and when they are speaking. If children read daily for fifteen minutes, in one year they will have read over one million words!

6. Reading develops a child's imagination.

As we read our brains translate the descriptions of places, people and objects into pictures. While we are engaged in a story, we are also imagining how a character is feeling. Young children can bring this knowledge into their everyday play and help them develop as writers.

7. Reading helps children to develop empathy.

As children develop they begin to imagine how they would feel in the situation that they are reading about.

8. Reading is FUN!.

Reading research suggests that it makes you feel happier. Reading reduces stress, promotes higher levels of self-esteem and a greater ability to cope with challenges. :) 

9. Reading is a great way to spend time together.

Reading together on the sofa, at bedtimes and visiting the library are just some ways of spending time together and developing a love of reading.

10. Children who read achieve better in school.

Reading promotes achievement in all subjects, not just English. Children who are good readers tend to achieve better across the curriculum. That is why we hold the vision of 'Learning to Read - Reading to Learn' at the heart of Cherry Willingham Primary Academy.

If you have any questions, concerns or super reading to share, don't hesitate to get in touch.