Child and Family Literacy by K.N. Smith
Being an advocate of Child literacy programs, I encourage people from all walks of life to make reading a habit, not only as an individual, but also as a family. Reading not only creates a stronger bond for families, it also fosters a healthy learning environment that is essential for childhood development. However, it is much more crucial for children to read frequently, and to indulge in pleasure reading as well. The National Education Association states that having kids read a lot helps in developing stronger reading skills. In addition, young readers need to become practiced at recognizing letters and sounds.
For each of us, reading is indeed crucial to success in school as well as in our careers, but we should not focus on its utilitarian value alone. To encourage students to embrace reading as a practice, we should let them read to expand their minds. Allow kids to read something funny, something goofy, do some adventure reading, as well as read something educational or inspirational. This is the path to fostering a life-long devotion to reading. Households that “get this” have all sorts of reading materials lying around, from newspapers and books to journals and comic books. Parents who emphasize this offer their children such a great start, and schools and mentors shouldn’t forget to emphasize to students the joy of getting lost in a book.
Also, much has been said about the relationship between reading comprehension and critical thinking and how reading to young children improves language and cognitive development. Recently, a study published in the Creativity Research Journal adds yet another interesting benefit of reading: it helps people embrace ambiguous ideas and avoid snap judgments. Opening the mind is what this is all about; getting lost in an intriguing sentence or reading something poetic and dynamic. Children will be more open to new ideas and will more easily embrace differences if they are allowed to read new things.
Finally, reading and writing go hand in hand! Just think about it, the world’s next great author is just a small child today, but an amazing and inspirational writer tomorrow. Remember, it takes just a few minutes to read to a child today!
K.N. Smith is an American author and passionate advocate of childhood and family literacy programs throughout the world. She continues to inspire students of all ages to reach their highest potential in their literary and educational pursuits. Her creative,lyrical flair sweeps across pages that twist, turn, and grind through elements of paranormal and action-adventure in diverse exciting, edge-of-your-seat narratives. She lives with her family in California.Her latest novel The Urban Boys: Discovery of the Five Senses is available on Amazon