The acquisition of reading skills at a very early age cannot be emphasized enough. Importance of reading skills filters into all aspects of school. I have personally witnessed the importance of reading skills on a daily basis in the following areas:
• Language Arts
• Social Studies
• Science
• Mathematics
• Social Skills
Many parents probably think reading skills is only required in language arts. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Of course, your child does need to have adequate reading skills to do well in language arts, but reading skills plays a major role in other subject areas, as well.
Let’s take a look at social studies, for example. Whether your child is learning about his neighborhood in kindergarten, or learning about other countries in the sixth class, he needs to be able to read in order to have a rich learning experience. Even basics of social studies, such as map reading, emphasize the importance of reading.
Let’s look at a real life situation; say the teacher has just introduced the continents to the class. She has pinned a huge map of the world on the wall and asks the class to point out the continents as she calls out the names; for example ' ASIA '
If your child does not have basic sound-symbol recognition skills, he will have a terrible time finding even a single continent. If, however, your child has the basic symbol sound recognition, he will know that the state he is looking for starts with the letter A and ends in A and has a S sound as well. Now, he has a slightly better chance of locating the continent than the first child.
On the other hand there may be another child who has learnt to read at a very young age through the whole word approach. Rather than searching frantically, the child can locate the continents in a jiffy and pay attention to the rest of the teacher’s lesson.
The importance of reading skills is also obvious in science. The hands-on nature of science often makes it a favourite subject of young children but for the complicated reading involved with it
The ability to follow and understand lab procedures correctly is important in science. If your child has solid reading skills, he will be able to successfully follow lab procedures. If she doesn’t, she is likely to be unsuccessful at completing science experiments. This will be both frustrating and disappointing for your child. It can even result in your child disliking science, because she sees it as a subject in which she can’t be successful.
Most parents fail to understand the role of reading in math. Poor reading skills can be a huge obstacle for students in math. Many a children fail in maths in spite of being stong in computation and concepts.
Most parents of young children relate math to numbers.That is never the case. Maths is all about problem solving. This aspect of math is nowadays being given a lot of emphasis right from the primary classes . Therefore, math now includes many story problems, that require reading skills.
A student with a strong math mind, but poor reading skills, can’t possibly do well in today’s math classes. reading skills is a prerequisite to do well in maths.
Less obviously, the importance of reading in socialization is seen in the self-esteem of your child. A child who goes to school every day, unable to read, will experience self-esteem problems. It is human nature to compare ourselves to others. If your child can’t read, but everyone else around him can, he will begin to see himself as less adequate.
Furthermore, a child who struggles with reading often develops a poor attitude about school – and understandably so. To illustrate this point, let’s pretend you had to go to a party where everyone speaks and reads only German. Let’s further assume you are supposed to make a speech as well. And, you need to try to make friends there, too. I am sure the next time you are invited for a similar party you would hesitate and have second thoughts. If your child can’t read, he feels this way, too.
The importance of reading skills for academic success and social acceptance is immense. To give your child the best chance of excelling in school, be sure to provide him with a strong reading foundation and to encourage reading at home.Start at a very young age, when I say young I really mean it AS EARLY AS ONE YEAR.
Mrs. Hamsapriya
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