As most of you know, I’m going to school to be an educator. I thought that I wanted to teach Elementary, but sometimes I think my niche may be Middle or High School students. At this moment, I plan on being all level certified just to be safe. But there is one thing that will affect every student I come in contact with, regardless of where or who I teach. That is their experience to literature as a child. Seem funny? Well I have a strong belief that your experience to reading and books as you grow will help strengthen many things as you grow to be an adult. And just what are those reasons you ask?
10. It makes it easier on your teachers to teach rather than play catch-up.
9. It helps teach children to never stop learning.
8. Obviously an exposure is good. And the more exposure they have to literature, the more they will learn.
7. It helps to include you in their learning experience. When you read to them, a bond is made that is irreplaceable. You are teaching them a life skill; why wouldn’t you want to be a part of that?
6. There is something that we call “the Matthew Effect” in the Education world. This is what some students in first grade will hit. If the readers are considered “good readers” they will continue to read more and get better throughout their lives. “Poor readers” will stay poor readers and shy away from reading, as they grow older. As a parent, you play an important role in whether or not the student’s will be on grade level in their reading. The more exposure you give them, the greater their odds of success when reading.
5. It exposes them to a world unknown. A student who reads a wide variety of books will typically be more excepting of those around them that are different than they are. Children’s books often have an underlying moral to them that teach acceptance and love for others.
4. It will expose and teach your children to have an appreciation for art and various images. We all know that pictures are fun to look at, so why not start early? Speaking to your child’s multiple intelligences is important.
3. It will allow your children to use their imagination. If your son/daughter is anything like me, and super practical books are the perfect way to teach them about the world around them. Creativity doesn’t come easy to me and books are a wonderful inspiration to help push me in that direction.
2. Reading aloud to your children will help improve their attention span. Teaching your child to sit still will drastically improve their future education. Any kindergarten teacher will tell you this. Reading aloud will improve the child’s ability to listen well while also teaching them to be respectful and maintain a sense of self control while you are reading (i.e.: not shouting out loud as you read, interrupting, etc)
1. You are what you read. That’s what I say. If we teach our children to read the right things early then the better people they will become. Books have an unbelievable power to transform your heart and way of thinking. It can open doors to places you never thought were possible. They can teach morals, values, life lissons, convey other people’s story and life, information, the possibilites are endless. If we don’t teach our kids to read, a world of information and emotion will be lost to them forever, and that is heartbreaking.
0. And because I have another one that I feel is even more important and don’t want to erase any of my other ones, I’m adding a zero J. It teaches your children to be emotional. I sound crazy huh? Well I think that by exploring emotions of characters as you read, you are learning more about your emotions too. And one of the more important qualities a person can have, as an adult is that of being self-aware. Knowing what makes you happy and sad and angry and more. Strangely enough, the make believe characters that our kids read about teach them how to explore themselves emotionally too.
Obviously, this will be different for every child or student. This is simply my opinion from my experiences. Let me know your thoughts!
Your friendly Neighborhood Blogger,
Cait
