2. Reading helps kids acquire a wide range of vocabulary, which makes general learning easier. Do not restrict them; let them read whatever they like. For example, fiction will enable them to pick up facts about science, politics, history and even geography.
3. Avid readers acquire a more complex sense of language. In they want to do well in the new economy, they need to speak, write, and deal with complex ideas. They can learn these from reading.
4. When they progress to secondary school or university, avid readers will have the literacy skills to excel in any subjects or courses that demand a high level of language proficiency. Not only can they excel in language subject, they will also benefit from subjects like science, psychology and history.
5. Kids with excellent reading skills tend to be able to control their emotions and handle personal trauma, with their academic credentials intact. They can keep up with their schoolwork by using only a fraction of their time and emotional energy. Hence they won’t be under tremendous pressure academically. In contrast, a personal crisis will usually wipe out a poor reader.
6. Kids will gain a sense of perspective, especially when they are an avid reader. The perspective is gained from looking through the eyes of hundreds of different narrators as they describe their point of view. With this, they can see that there are multiple ways to look at a situation, and an issue can have many sides to it.
7. Compassion, the ability to understand another’s view, is another skill to be gained. Children, through reading, will experience thousands of different lives and understand characters and their lives at their full complexity.
8. Readers can explore multiple worlds, brimming with possibilities and opportunities. This fuels their desire to pursue their dream, or at the very least, inspire them to have a dream. It doesn’t matter where they come from or how limited their world is, they are empowered to dream anything and go anywhere.
9. Critical thinking skills are developed when readers discover multifaceted plots and try to understand complex arguments and sympathize with antagonists.
10. The love for reading can shine light in someone’s life. By bringing a book for accompaniment and illumination no matter where the location: by the fire, at the beach or under the stars; can be considered one of the major joys of life.