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Reading plays a key role in developing mind, growing mentally, emotionally and psychologically. Reading is a skill that needs to be built in early childhood, therefore, it is extremely important to develop love to reading in early stage of human’s development. Firstly, this essay will discuss the major advantages of reading stories in early childhood, and secondly, discuss the ways how to motivate children to read stories. Nowadays educational institutions direct their focus on different reading programs, include reading in all aspects of learning English language. Why reading is so important, especially in early childhood? First of all, reading is number one factor that helps in learning a language. While reading, children’s brain is processing different grammar and sentence structures, new vocabulary and linking words. It is fascinating how fast children are able to learn new vocabulary through reading. Every day my students read their favorite stories for only 10 minutes in the morning. I believe their language has improved as well as their speaking skills. Although they have not learnt some grammar structures, most of them can make grammatically correct sentences which they have seen in the stories. Secondly, children’s mind is very vivid compare to an adult’s one, hence, reading stories takes imagination and creativity to a different level. Albert Einstein once said: “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination”. While reading stories, children do not perceive those as fiction, but create a real world of characters and colorful events in their mind. Thirdly, let’s do not forget about pleasure and joy that reading stories gives. For example, most of the adults read because they are motivated, we want to get some information, or it is required for our personal growth. When children read, it is mostly because they truly enjoy the process, they are not motivated, as they still are very young to understand why they should read, therefore, reading is happening due to ultimate pleasure. One of the biggest challenges that a teacher faces is finding a book that fits a child’s interests. Reading comprehension is one of the most difficult skills, so it is vital for a teacher to inspire a child’s interest in reading. Firstly, reading should not be optional, it must be daily. Parents have to be involved in students’ reading education, thus, a teacher should encourage parents to read to their children every day. On the other hand, parents can help teachers in understanding their children’s interests. Children are very sensitive, and if we force them to read stories that they are not fond of, we might make them disappointed in reading that might lead to the wrong impression that reading is boring. Secondly, praising plays a big role when it comes to reading. First, children might want to read only because they know they would be rewarded in future, but later reading process will take over and they will enjoy reading without expecting any reward or appreciation but because reading became a part of their life. In conclusion, reading in early childhood is beneficial for child’s language skill growth and imagination development. It is highly recommended to build the skill in early stage of child’s development. One of the ways to inspire children’s love to reading is making it as a routine and helping a child to find a book according to his or her interests. Margaret Mead said: “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think”. This is a teacher’s goal to develop critical thinking of our children, keeping their imagination always alive.
