Why Do Some People Become Lifelong Readers

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Why Do Some People Become Lifelong Readers

Reading is important as it helps in the mental, emotional, and psychological growth. Every time an individual reads, his knowledge is increased, he learns new things, and he is able to explore new ideas. The article “How some people become lifelong readers” by Joe Pinsker discusses the importance of reading and why some people grow into lifelong readers. He states that the involvement of parents in developing the reading habits of their child holds great importance.

The most interesting part of this article is the description of three variables by Willingham in his book “Raising Kids who Read”, which greatly influence a person to become a lifelong reader. The first variable described by Pinsker is fluent decoding. If a kid is a fluent decoder, he is more likely to become a lifelong reader. He has given a very interesting strategy for making children fluent decoders. The strategy is the use of wordplay. “-especially when that reading involves wordplay, which particularly helps kids with the challenge of identifying the “individual speech sounds” that make up a word.” Good decoding leads to a good comprehension. When a child is able to comprehend easily, he gets a lifetime fluency, a linguist maturity, and a wide vocabulary. The educational institutions help children with this struggle, but parents themselves should try to get involved in this strategy at home as well. They should try to create a shared experience and a positive association in which the child can learn to read on their own.

The second variable is also very interesting that is having a wide background knowledge. It is helpful in understanding of a new text the child is reading. “…make sure their kids have some familiarity with whatever it is they’re reading about.” According to the writer, it should be the aim of parents to provide necessary information about the world. It would make their kids understand the piece of information they are going through. The comprehension of the students also increases, as they are able to relate the text they are reading with the information they carry and they enjoy reading as well. Parents can begin building prior knowledge by categorizing words and teaching them to the kids. They can use analogies, contrasts and comparisons, and multimedia. Parents should build both informational and narrative knowledge of the child so that a firm foundation for learning is built in him.

The third variable presented by Pinsker is of central importance in making a child lifelong reader. Pinsker refers to the book “How to Raise a Reader” by Pamela Paul and Maria Russo, in which Paul states, “the aim is to present reading not as “spinach,” but as “chocolate cake.” Reading should not seem a battle to kids. Parents should keep their child’s interest fixed into the activity of reading. They can themselves take part in reading happily and should try to make reading an exciting activity for the child. The best way to engage the interest of the children in reading is letting them choose the topic for reading. Visuals or pictures are also useful in making them understand and connect the ideas. Storytelling also proves to be a wonderful and lively experience in learning new things and developing interest in reading. Reading should not be imposed as an obligation on the child. It should rather be an experience full of fun, imagination, and creativity. A suitable time and an interesting content to read is very significant for a lifelong reading process. A child should be introduced to every genre be it magazines, novels, factual books, comics and so on.

An exciting bond between the reader and the child creates a happy experience. It leads a child to perform better in all the skills- reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The development of great enthusiasm for reading in a child gives him wonderful hours of pleasure and gaining knowledge. A child who becomes a lifelong reader surely becomes a lifelong learner.

Works Cited

BIBLIOGRAPHY Pinsker, Joe. "Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers." The Atlantic (2019). <https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/09/love-reading-books-leisure-pleasure/598315/>.