The importance of reading

A reader recently wrote to me asking how I come with ideas for my columns. He said, “Your topics are pretty random, and it just makes me wonder how you choose what to write about each week.” I thought that was an excellent question, one for which there isn’t a simple answer.

Back in college my writing professor emphasized the importance of “writing about what you know,” meaning that if you’re going to put words to paper, it is important to make sure that the subject matters you’ve chosen to comment upon are consistent with the reality of your life. Now of course this doesn’t necessarily apply to creative writing, where the imagination is in charge of the narrative; however even in most creative writing and fiction, one can discern the mental blueprint of the author predicated upon a careful analysis of the writer’s protagonists and villains.

Which brings me around to the topic I want to share with you today — the importance of reading. School is just around the corner and children will be headed back to their classrooms. Some of these youngsters are well prepared for the rigors of education. Their parents and caregivers have armed them with an enhanced capacity for learning through interacting with them by reading to them, playing games that require thought and teach memorization, and expecting them to spend a portion of their time in mindful activities rather than spending disproportionate amounts of time lost in cyberspace.

Although I teach parent education classes that provide participants with a wide range of parenting “tools,” one of the most important messages that I try to convey to parents is the importance of reading to their children. Children are born with approximately 100 billion brain cells (or about ten times the number of stars in the Milky Way!) The more the brain is stimulated in the first few years of a child’s life, the stronger the connectivity in the brain becomes. Conversely, little stimulation results in atrophy, which inhibits learning.

In fact there are critical windows in child development. That means that at certain times of a child’s life brain stimulation through interaction, reading, and play can enhance a child’s learning potential. Something to ponder: An adult’s vocabulary (the capacity) is largely determined by the language/speech that a child hears in the first three years of life. A baby’s brain responds to sounds rather than words and strong neural connections occur when reading is part of a child’s daily experience.

A recent report by the Pew Research Center found that 26 percent of adults haven’t read a book in the previous year. Forty percent of those surveyed with only a high school education reported not having read a book in the previous year and adults with less than $30,000 income are less likely to have read a book that those with greater income (33 percent to 17 percent.) Considering that libraries offer free books, and many organizations will provide reading materials for parents to share with their children, there really isn’t a good excuse for not reading to children.

In addition to enhancing a child’s capacity for learning, reading to children is an important bonding tool as well. Cradling a child on your lap and sharing a story with them is nurturing and even if little children have short attention spans, practicing this behavior will help train children to enjoy listening and ultimately to enjoy reading.

My two older grandchildren, nine and eight, are both voracious readers. They graduated from Golden books to chapter books several years ago and in talking with them it is obvious that reading is an important part of their lives. Katherine is currently reading the entire “Oz” series — there are 14 total. She said, “I love reading because it takes me different places and gives me things to think about.” Needless to say, both children grew up in families that valued reading.

All of us want our children to be successful in life and reading is of fundamental importance in that quest. Parents who model a love of learning and literature through reading themselves are much more likely to produce children who are readers. And at school, teachers who are willing to learn what a child is interested in and provide them opportunities to read books relative to their interests are much more likely to create successful learners.

It is difficult to come up with 52 column ideas a year. I’ve been writing a column now for nearly 10 years (about 500 columns) and truth be told, there are Mondays when I look at my blank computer screen and wonder if I have anything left upon which I want to comment.

But that’s the beauty of reading. Whether it is an interesting novel, a historical account of the old west, or opinion pieces written by my favorite writers, words have the capacity to stimulate thought and as long as I continue reading, I’ll probably continue writing, and my reading tastes are quite eclectic, so be prepared for more “randomness!”

Tom Westfall teaches parenting classes at Family Resource Center.