By Paul Jameston

A lot has been said about the importance of reading at a young age. It is no wonder that many parents buy books for children even when they were still babies. The assumption here is that they want their children to be intelligent as they grow. Instead of forcing this on children, a better way to go about this is to instill in them to love reading for reading’s sake.

One of the things that reading does to children is that it encourages their natural tendency to be very curious about things. The letters, words, numbers or pictures the see printed on the page will spur them to wonder and ask questions.

When parents read to their children and are responsive to their questions, this will foster in them the love for learning. The important thing here is that by encouraging their instincts and answering them, even if parents find many of their questions annoying, children will not be afraid to ask. Later on, they will slowly learn to search for the answers for themselves by reading some more.

This can happen way before children go to school. And when they do start school already, being familiar to books and reading will help them in adjusting to the routine of schoolwork and homework.

Reading for the sake of reading will mean that any book can be a source of information and knowledge. Guidance from parents is also important in this aspect. It will be up to them to balance their child’s reading list. This means that alongside comic books and storybooks, their child will also have picture books on the sciences, history, and other school subjects that are appropriate to their age.

A love for reading and learning is a good start in molding children to become a well-rounded individual. As they become inclined to seek out how to know things, they will also develop the sense of being open to new people and experiences.

Paul Jameston has been writing about education for the past four years. He also likes to write about paper products, specifically newsprint paper [http://www.newsprintpaper.org] and why you should always use good printing paper [http://www.newsprintpaper.org/printing-paper] for your projects.