Persian 
English 
Arabic This is the last post in my series on the importance of reading for children. I am so happy for all the positive feedback I have received for part one and part two – I hope you will enjoy this last instalment as well.
Reading is the key to other learning
A fondness for books is an invaluable help when your child goes to school. Anyone who has a love for reading has an innate thirst of knowledge which is beneficial for learning any other subjects such as science, maths, history, geography and other languages.
Better writing skills
The more you read the better you will also be at writing. This is something that is important especially for a child’s minority language, which usually does not get trained as much as the language used at school. Seeing words in a written form is vital for learning to write.
Improved concentration
Children who love reading can concentrate on their tasks better than those children who are less ardent readers. Never be upset with your children if they can’t hear you when they are immersed in a book – it (usually) means that their ability to concentrate is top notch!
Brain training exercise
Reading is a complex task that activates several areas of the brain and as such has a positive impact on them. Recent research has shown that “reading a good book may cause heightened connectivity in the brain and neurological changes that persist in a similar way to muscle memory”.
Enhanced logical reasoning
When children read books they learn to understand abstract scenarios as well as cause and effect situations. Both of these skills help them in logical reasoning, which again comes handy in many aspects of their day-to-day lives and even more so at school and later on in working life.
Wider cultural understanding
Culture and language go hand in hand. Reading is particularly beneficial for understanding the minority language culture, as there might not be as many opportunities to experience the culture first hand.
Love for reading will be passed on
Children who have learnt to treasure books will in time pass this passion on to their own children. A benefit that moves on from one generation to another – how good is that!
Last but not least, reading is FUN
If have often emphasized the importance of having fun when teaching your children your language – books are a great way to have fun together, explore the world, learn new stuff and let your imagination loose.
Read more about reading!
To further inspire you to read for and with your children, check out these posts in which parent bloggers share their experiences:
Great books
Head of the Heard enjoys the Gruffalo and Amazing Machines.
Glittering Muffins has many posts on books, here is one on the World book day and another about Christmas and winter books.
Trilingual Children loves these wonderful Russian books.
Miss Panda Chinese has several Chinese books in her collection Miss Panda’s Reading Playground.
All Done Monkey helps you find lovely Spanish books for toddlers.
Kid World Citizen writes about how books can help teach children about different cultures.
How to use books to boost language skills
Glittering Muffins writes how they have read books in both English and French.
Trilingual Children gives some great advice on how to read to a baby and when to start reading.
The Piri-Piri Lexicon makes the case for bilingual books and why you should choose wisely.
Dads the way I like it reads in Welsh to his son and writes about babies, books and blogging.
Bilingual Monkeys quite rightly claims that you can never have too many books … and I will finish with his great collection of 43 quotes on the importance of reading.
