Todd Nesnick
Parents and teachers are always looking for extra-curricular activities and hobbies to help aid their child’s/ students’ mental growth and development. But given their busy schedule and ever-changing moods, kids can’t seem to make the time or commitment to one extra-curricular activity. Sometimes kids have to be guided and persuaded to join hobby classes that will benefit them in the long run. This is akin to tricking your kids into eating healthy snacks and foods on their own, once in a while kids need to be pushed into learning good habits like these!
Another good habit is reading, but children often find reading a chore or associate it with studying. They would rather choose an activity such as playing sports or watching a show or a movie to unwind. Parents and teachers are almost always telling young kids that reading is a brilliant habit that can even make you smarter. And while that is very true, it’s not the complete truth! Reading can be very beneficial but it is important to be mindful of the content that one is reading if one wants to build their intellect. There is no dearth of reading material in libraries or on the internet, but reading as an isolated activity cannot ensure that it aids the development of a child.
How does reading make your child smarter?
Reading is a wonderful activity for kids! It opens up their imagination and helps them build their vocabulary in a manner that they are more likely to remember (rather than just mugging it up). Reading is said to keep the brain sharp and reduce stress in adults, but these benefits are multifold for younger ones! There are so many developmental benefits to reading that one cannot go without discussing how beneficial they would be to kids, especially in the early developmental years of their lives.
The first kind of reading material children are introduced to are nursery rhymes and short stories such as Little Red Riding Hood and poems like Hickory Dickory Dock. These short stories and rhymes are made to memorize certain words, their spellings and pronunciations. This leads them to read and remember stories in fixed patterns. While story books and rhymes may help children learn how to read, and are great for their imagination, children also need to read more educational content that helps them understand real-world phenomena.
An excellent way to help your children be in more touch with the world is to read them stories from the real world. Real World stories are called news! But most parents seem to shudder at the idea of exposing their children to news from traditional and mainstream news sources such as TV, and newspapers. If you too are unsure about why your child should be reading the news, here are some undeniable benefits!-
- Reading the news keeps children updated about news the moment it happens. These small bits of information are easier to remember through small news stories rather than having to mug up the same facts and events later. This also helps them slowly yet surely build a base of general knowledge and current affairs
- Reading news stories helps boost kids’ analytical skills as well, it sparks their curiosity while simultaneously providing them with answers to all their questions about how the world works. It even helps them understand and evaluate evidence, facts and statements before accepting something as a fact.
- Makes children more are and knowledgeable about the role of politics, business, sports and journalism! It helps them develop their interest in different fields which in turn helps shape their interests and prospects.
- Reading the news encourages a healthy reading habit, that in turn will help kids write and express themselves more creatively. It steadily improves their reading speed and could get them interested in visiting the library or some quiet reading time before bed.
- Reading helps children become more confident about speaking up in class and participating in class conversations with their peers. Knowing the news and current affairs makes sure they have substantial information to add to any conversation
- It helps them become more opinionated and think objectively about the cause, effect and consequences of events happening worldwide. It can also encourage them to become more involved in activities like essay writing, public speaking and debating.
The Takeaway
So, as you can see, reading the news is a very simple activity for kids that will definitely pay off in the long run! Reading the news will help your kids stand out and read at a more advanced reading level.
There is an expectation for kids and teenagers to stay updated on the news, but that’s barely possible given the fact that there aren’t too many child-appropriate sources for news! The onus is upon teachers and adults who know better to prescribe and guide reading material to their children, and not just any material but relevant to the topics that they like.
For this purpose, there are resources and dedicated websites that tailor-make news for kids in India. After all, if the news is to be their first introduction to the real world, then you would want it to be nothing short of optimistic, fun and educational!