How does reading help in the personality development of your child?
03-01-2023
In a recent BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) article, it was pointed out that “people who often read fiction have better social cognition”. That means that children who read experience emotion. The emotional bond thus created helps them understand and respect the other’s feelings and thoughts. As a result, they are able to forge better and stronger relations with the people around them. So, we could concede that reading has an undeniable impact on the personality of a child.
The best schools in Dehradun ensure that children are exposed to reading at a very early age. At DPS Vikas Nagar our faculty ensures that children are given different kinds of books to read, as well as understand the significance of reading in their growth and development.
Exposure to a different culture other than our own;
Reading a story brings to life people and their situations. We are transported and transposed into the life of the people we have been reading about. For example, if we are reading about Hansel and Gretel or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; we temporarily live the lives of these characters. The child undergoes all the experiences that the children in the fairy tale do. He/she gets a lesson in life skills. Along with this, they see a culture that is entirely different from theirs. New words and phrases to describe emotions, experiences, and situations further enhance skill and knowledge. At the best schools in Dehradun, widened perspective and exposure are encouraged in a child by teaching a love for reading.
Cognitive Development of a Child
This is a faculty that refers to our perception and interpretation of our environment and our world. It is a response that is decided by our intelligence, reasoning, language, and processing of information. When we read to a child (as an exercise for encouraging the habit), we are giving them a background, a foreknowledge to decode the world that they are inhabiting. By relating and connecting things they are nudged to make sense of whatever they see, hear and feel. The fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel (one such book for children) makes the young reader relate with the brother-sister in crisis. Consequently, they comprehend the emotions and feelings of others and learn to see beyond themselves.
Exposure to different locales
A storybook can be a medium of travel. One can travel and see different cities and countries, even an alternate world by way of the printed word. For example, if a child is enjoying J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series (another example of books for children), he/she gets to live a life that is completely different from their own and yet very similar. A fantastical world is interesting and intriguing; particularly when one’s own peer group is an inhabitant of it. It gives birth to curiosity and the habit of observing things. This is a very child-friendly way of introducing children of various age groups to new geographical and cultural experiences. In the best schools in Dehradun, with the help of reading, the children are exposed to virtual travel which can be converted to the real thing where they are the protagonist. The actual experience then becomes more enjoyable.
Parent-child reading relationship
When a parent makes it a regular routine to read with or to the child then it results in developing an enriched and enhanced relationship with the child. It becomes a common ground where parent and child meet to enjoy an interest that is giving pleasure to both. A sense of deep friendship develops between the two where the child does not feel hesitancy or fear retribution from parents. Some of the best schools in Dehradun allot a specific time of the day that has been assigned for reading becomes a shared event that also nurtures a sense of reassurance and emotional stability in the young person undergoing a dynamic real world.
Enhancing Literacy Skills
When a story is read to a child, often the child tries to understand words and expressions that are new to him by the expression that accompanies the story-reading. It helps in stimulating a brain function related to processing language and its acquisition. Regular reading also helps the children sharpen their concentration and imagination. They draw mental pictures and create environments as the story unfolds. They even try to guess what might happen next in the story. Besides DPS Vikas Nagar, many of the best schools in Dehradun, aim to improve the faculty of concentration, imagination, and creativity to work the ideas that form in their heads by focusing on reading various genres of books. Additionally, it also improves the children’s academic performance by great percentages.
How does reading impact a child’s personality development?
We have all read books, some time or another, which have drawn an emotional response from us. We might have laughed, cried, felt angry, or enjoyed an other-worldly experience. It energizes us situationally and guides our behavior in the long run, in a larger scenario and a bigger perspective. It does affect the way our personalities and character take shape in our formative years. According to the American Psychological Association, Personality here refers to “individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving”. These patterns are more or less grounded in biological and environmental factors that we experience, as we evolve. These include our family, friends, teachers, and the people that we interact with on a daily basis. So besides the social cognitive skills that are affected by reading; the habit also influences us in what we want to make of our lives. Books often determine a child’s idea of home or what kind of life they would want there to be. They help the children decide upon a path and their choices.
Books not only inspire our imagination but also have the power to command us to action. A child might be encouraged to mimic a character from the book he or she enjoys most. But if children are not introduced to reading, they might never find the inspiration to stimulate them to strive towards great achievements.
DPS Vikas Nagar prides itself on having a vast library, offering an extensive variety of books for children of all age groups. Click here to know more about one of the best schools in Dehradun
