Discover the Remarkable Benefits of Reading 20 Minutes Everyday, from Boosting Vocabulary and Imagination to Reducing Stress and Enhancing Academic Performance.
- reneevoce
- Feb 1, 2024
- 5 min read
Early exposure to language is the greatest factor in language development and learning to read. By reading together every day, you stimulate and strengthen your child's language and literacy skills. It is that simple. By reading and talking with your child each day, you bond with them and model the love of reading, which will benefit them in school and throughout life
We are often faced with having to make choices about what stays and what goes in our schedules. So, why is it so critical to include 20 minutes of reading in your child’s daily schedule? There is a wealth of research supporting daily reading with your child especially prior to and during the period when he/she is learning to read. Here are a few of the ways reading with your child for 20 (or more) minutes a day benefits him or her.
Reading is "Food" for our Brain
Our brains develop as we “feed” them with experiences. The experience of reading (whether you’re the reader or the one being read to) activates and “exercises” many of the areas of the brain. The visual cortex works as your eyes track the words on the page and look at the illustrations. Your memory makes connections between what you already know about the topic of the story and its content. You integrate new information learned through reading further strengthening and growing your network of knowledge.
Reading provides one of the most enriching and complex brain activities available in life.
Reading Builds Early Literacy Skills
Before a child can read independently he/she must have phonemic awareness and a basic understanding of phonics. Phonemic awareness or the understanding that words are made up of distinct sounds that affect their meaning is the precursor to reading. Reading aloud to your child is one of the main ways to help him develop phonemic awareness. Beyond this, in order to read, a person must understand that there is a connection between letters and sounds. Without this knowledge letters are just squiggles on a page! When you read with your child she learns that print is a representation of the words you say aloud. Repeated experiences with reading allow this understanding to grow.
The single greatest factor in a child’s ability to read is early experiences being read aloud to.
Vocabulary is Another Advantage of Reading
Reading also builds your vocabulary which is beneficial to student achievement. Reading books is the best method for building a strong vocabulary. Research conducted over 20 years indicates that the common link between successful individuals in their careers is they each have a large vocabulary. Another benefit of having a large vocabulary includes being able to process information at a faster speed. Once you know and understand a word, it lightens the load on your working or short-term memory.
This helps you understand information input at a faster pace.
An extensive vocabulary also builds the connections in your brain so that new lines of reasoning open up.
Reading often Helps to Improve Writing Skills
The more words your child reads, the wider their vocabulary will be. If there’s vocabulary benefits associated with reading 20 minutes a day, then writing benefits are there for the taking, too. And a wide vocabulary makes a children's writing more interesting and impressive. They’ll discover new ways to convey meaning, articulate their thoughts, and engage readers’ emotions. This can help them become stronger writers, whether working on a short story age 8, an essay age 10, a research project age 13, or a college application letter age 17.
Children who rarely read are less likely to expand their linguistic know-how in the same way. And that could hold their writing back significantly.
Reading Stimulates and Enhances a Child's Imagination
Recent research shows that the imagination may be more powerful than believed previously — scientists now believe that creative imaging can ‘rewrite’ certain memories to be less traumatic, and can even enhance certain physical connections within the body. Reading daily can help to strengthen a child’s imagination, introducing them to concepts, cultures, and possibilities beyond their own life experience. They can learn about the world, stimulate their curiosity, and give them a better understanding of other people’s lives.
And with the imagination being such a powerful force, there’s a lot to gain from that!
Reading Improves Academic Performance
There is a strong correlation between a child’s ability to read and her academic performance. Because so much of our schooling relies on our abilities to read, children must have strong reading skills to succeed and thrive in school.
Reading Improves Relationships
Because we are busy it is difficult to have “quality” one-on-one time with our children without distractions. Building 20 minutes into each day for reading together provides this important bonding time. There is nothing more wonderful than snuggling a young child on your lap while reading a few storybooks aloud.
Even if your child is beyond the “snuggling” stage, spending 20 minutes reading independently provides you with quiet, uninterrupted time together engaged in the same activity.
Paper vs. Electronic
Neuroscience research shows that paper-based content is better connected to memory in our brains (Bangor University). So while electronics are becoming more and more prevalent in our day-to-day life, keep printed books the main form of reading in your home.
When reading an e-book, the moment that book becomes interactive, the part of the brain engaged in the activity changes and it no longer is an activity that builds literacy skills.
There is no give and take here, electronics should be an enhancement and not a replacement.
Reading Lowers Your Stress Levels
In one recent study, reading every day reduces stress in your body. Stress is one’s physical and mental reaction to good and bad experiences in our lives.
Stress is good for you in the short-term. However, when stress is constant in your life, it becomes chronic.
The symptoms include
Anxiety
Irritability
Headaches
Insomnia
Reading is Recommended by Doctors to Promote Sleep
Doctors recommend reading as part of a bedtime routine. When reading before bed, it tends to reduce stress in your body, which then promotes sleep.
Additional Reading Resources
Getting your child to read is not always an easy task. But, by allowing them to choose what they are reading, and asking questions that encourage them to interact with the text, you are helping them see books as FUN.
The benefits of reading 20 minutes a day are abundant and worth the time. Make reading 20 minutes a day a priority to improve test scores, grow vocabulary, build empathy for others, decrease stress, and increase your child's sleep. That is a win-win.
Here are excellent resources to help you get started on the journey of reading with your child as well as the benefits of them reading 20 minutes everyday.
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