On the Importance of Reading...as a Parent

This is a piece that was originally published in this summer's issue of the Beaumont Insider, a small paper our school district publishes once a year to show off the highlights of the last school year and to disseminate information about the upcoming year.

Reading is arguably the most important skill a child learns in school. We use reading every day. We use it in math and science. We use it to pay bills and fill out job applications, to stay in touch and to stay informed. And while children learn concepts, processes, and knowledge in the classroom, they also learn from us – their parents, guardians, grandparents, and role models.

So how can we best support our children’s struggle to attain the one skill that unlocks all the rest? In short, we must communicate to our children in some way, every single day, that reading is important, that reading is enjoyable, that reading is essential. By modeling fluent reading regularly, giving reading a share of our time, and demonstrating that reading is important to us, we will help our children recognize the value of reading through the example of our own lives.

Modeling fluent reading

In order to learn how to read, children must go far beyond the rudiments of merely “sounding out” the letters and letter combinations they see with their eyes. They must hear what fluent reading sounds like so that they learn the appropriate cadences of phrases, the natural pauses signified by punctuation, and the voice that writers give to their characters and narration. As their parent, they will look more forward to sharing this experience with you than with anyone else in their lives. You have been their first teacher since they learned to walk and talk, and when you read with them, you maintain that role.

Giving reading our time

Our children share our values, especially at the age at which they begin to learn to read.  If you take time to read to your children and continue to take time to read with your children, they will begin to value reading as something that is worth a portion of their time.  We all get busy and tired from long days at work and around the house. That makes the time we spend reading with our kids even more precious and valuable, and kids come, in time, to recognize it as such.  In fact, the busier our lives get, the more value our children will place on reading when we show them how important it is to stop the bustle at least once every day and make time to read.

Demonstrating reading’s importance

Children learn by emulating us.  They act the way we act and say the things they hear us say. When our kids come bounding in from outdoors and find us sitting in a comfortable chair reading a book, they process that as something that their role model feels is important.  When we tell them how much we loved a certain book when we were growing up, they learn that it is important to read a lot of books and to judge them and find ones they can love, too. When we take them to the library and spend time thoughtfully choosing books for ourselves, they see that even as adults, reading continues to be an important, beneficial part of life. By modeling a love of reading for our children, we help them to foster one, too.

Read every day. Read with your kids every day. Visit the library every week or two. Talk about books with your kids. Teach your children that reading makes them stronger, and you will have given them the greatest gift imaginable.