Leaders are readers

Did you know that just six minutes of silent concentrated reading can reduce stress levels by 68 per cent?

Did you also know that reading works better and faster when it comes to relieving stress than listening to music or taking a walk?

Unfortunately, the culture of reading is slowly dying because reading is perceived to be boring and less energy-sucking by this current crop of young ones who have to contend with information overload, the need for instant gratification and social media demands.

We must, however, not lose sight of the fact that reading is very profitable and will remain so even as the world becomes more sophisticated.

Margaret Fuller once said, “if you want to be a leader, if you want to be one, you have to read. You cannot grow in your leadership without learning from others and that requires reading”.

We cannot disappoint tomorrow’s leaders by failing to instil in them the love for reading. Reading is crucial for success because it is at the centre of every child’s education.

Better

Children who love reading, read more, become better at reading and they perform better in school. They are able to build their reading, writing and comprehension skills, and even get a further boost in understanding maths concepts.

Cultivating the love for reading most of the time puts children ahead of their peers. They are better motivated and more confident.

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Apart from developing rich vocabulary, children get the emotional pleasure of getting lost in the adventures of a good book.

A child’s imagination is stretched when they read the Hardy Boys, Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes, Tintin and other books, which they cannot let go of till they have read to the very end. This is where creativity is born.

“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” GB Shaw Problem-solving skills, innovative ideas and witty solutions are usually products of stimulated and enriched minds. Through the reading of books, children learn about life and the world.

Relate

Children are able to relate to the characters they read about in many ways such as growing up, facing fears and nurturing friendships.

When readers identify with a character who’s going through these things, they enter the character’s mind and they get to think and feel in new ways.

Children gain a deeper understanding of other people, and an understanding of themselves when they place themselves in the shoes of the character they read about.

Reading is deeply formative to the extent that it can help children discover what their interests are and what they would like to grow up to become.

One simple thing we can do to nurture a child’s love for reading is to start reading aloud to the child from as young as seven months in utero. This time together has a way of impacting the child positively.

Know the kind of books your child likes by introducing stories of history, fiction, adventure, mysteries, fantasies etc., to them. Help them find more of such books when you discover what excites them.

A family that reads is the place where love for reading begins. It tells the child how important reading is.

Encourage your child to keep a journal where the “big words” are searched from dictionaries and documented. Praise and reward the little efforts as you check in to find out more about the books they are reading.

They say ordinary people have big TVs, while extraordinary people have big libraries. What is your child’s experience?