Why Reading is Important for Children
Why it is beneficial to read to your little ones
Reading is a wonderful gift. Every book is a different unique journey that we get to explore. Each journey grows our imaginations as it takes us on an exploration of other realms. Each story can teach life-changing lessons and can enhance the beauty of God’s world. A good book is a wonderful treasure.
Even from a very young age, babies benefit from hearing a book read aloud to them. The bonding time with your little one as you read words that nurture them as well as teach them is foundational. Long before I could read, I remember being read to. Some of my fondest memories are of naptimes when Mama read to me from a special book. This encouraged my love of reading even then.
As a child and now as an adult, I cannot emphasize enough the absolute importance of reading as part of homeschooling or any schooling. Reading is an essential part of childhood! Children learn so much more than one can imagine from the books they read every day. This is something that we need to encourage and also be a major part of so we can keep good books always available to them.
For growing children, it is important to for them to read realistic stories that are full of adventure and teach character qualities. My family and I personally love historical fiction, adventure, allegories, and mysteries. We have been blessed to find many series in these genres that we have grown to love!
My absolute favorite age range of books is for 8-12 year-olds, but I also love reading a good picture book to the little ones. I have seen children these ages fall in love with reading so fast. Providing great books for them encourages their creativity as well as teaches them so many life lessons in a realistic way.
Historical fiction brings history alive; adventure keeps them at the edge of their seat; allegories teach them about God’s love and redemption; and mysteries make problem-solving in everyday life practical and reachable!
Why books are important to me
Books mean so much to me and were a major part of my childhood. I am so grateful for all the good books that Mama found for us over the years. Reading was our primary form of entertainment as we grew up. Every road trip was better with a set of books to read. Going to bed early was fun as we had books to read. Reading was a motivation to wake up early as well.
The best birthday or Christmas gift was opening a book or a set of books. One of my brothers even requested a book-themed birthday and I wished I had done the same! I even have many great memories of us siblings sitting down in the afternoons and listening to Mama read as we worked on our craft projects. We learned so much together and had many conversations about the topics we were hearing in those books.
Where to find good books
Many of our books we learned about through homeschool magazines, homeschool book stores, used book stores, and the library system. We often came home with bags of books from the library ranging from picture books to upper level chapter books. Reading to the little ones was always fun as was curling up in a corner of our beds with a book of our own. We have found some of our favorite books this way. Mama also surprised us with our own book sets and we would make a list of our favorite authors and genres and continue to collect these. Most of the time that author had multiple books in one series and we would do our best to find them all.
Our favorite places to purchase our books are at used book stores and even at library sales! We’ve brought back boxes of books on those days for less than $5 each! I also have found many favorites of ours at consignment sales and thrift stores.
For online shopping, right now I love Abebooks, Amazon, and even Ebay has worked out great for me. I have found quite a few out-of-print series that I have wanted to collect on Ebay. I also have looked into Thriftbooks and The Book Bundler. ChristianBook will always be one of my favorites for brand-new series if you can’t find them elsewhere.
Other forms of reading
Another way of reading is through listening to books. As I mentioned earlier, my siblings and I loved listening to our Mama read aloud to us. We learned so much together and got so much done at the same time. When parents read aloud to their kids, it opens the door to conversations about new and exciting things. Children feel free to ask questions about the story topics or the characters in the books.
Audiobooks are some of my favorite ways to listen to books as well. There are so many great options out there for audiobooks and even audio dramas as well. Children can still have fun as they listen to stories that teach them and grow their imagination. Multitasking with a craft project or quiet play while a story is on is a relaxing way to spend a few hours in the afternoon.
One way to do this is to use your library account to sign into Hoopla and listen to many audiobooks for free. For more audio books or stories, there are also handful of good kids podcast on Spotify. Listening in the car together is another great way to spend the hours on a long road trip. At the same time kids are learning and making memories.
I am excited to find so many other unique toys coming out now that make listening to audiobooks more available to children of all ages. Another benefit is when screens are not involved in this allowing the child to focus better while working with their hands.
My commitment to find Godly books
I have personally dedicated years of my life to finding and collecting the best books and series that I can. Many times though I have been discouraged with the content that are in some books these days. Browsing the library shelves lately has not been as enjoyable because of the things they are subtlety or not so subtlety hiding in children’s books.
Because of this, I learned early on to preview the books that we got before giving it to the children. Especially the chapter books that are currently being published. Too much can be hidden in books that are not healthy for children to read or are just not nurturing or creative. There are many books and series that I will not promote due to these reasons.
I encourage you as well to go with your gut if you are questioning the content in any book. We are to protect these little minds and train them in God’s ways not the ways of the world. There are a few book review sites that can give a detailed list of what is included in each book. I will be posting my own reviews to books that I have enjoyed and I am also creating an exhaustive list of clean books for you to confidently give to your children without fear of hidden messages.
My passion is to find amazing books that teach Godly lessons and encourage creativity and imagination. Books that tell stories that are realistic and captivating. Stories that show true Godly character qualities and have strong messages of hope, joy, positivity, and determination.
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 KJV
