How Reading to Children Affects their Development
Kassandra Gossett, Luke Hopkins, Kylie Langley, and Chunya Heflin
In any bookstore, there are always shelves of books dedicated to younger children that consist of pictures, bright colors, and bigger font. Several parents participate in reading to their children, but not many know how it specifically affects their children’s development. The purpose of our literature review was to explore the specific areas of development that are impacted when reading to children such as their academic achievement, cognition, emotion and personality, and behavior and how it affects their growing mind. The goal was to inform parents and teachers about the positive impact reading has on younger children, specifically toddlers and preschool age. Past research has focused on certain areas of this topic, such as emergence of language skills, but we examined how the specific areas listed above play a role in children’s development and compiled our findings into one study. Recommendations to parents for children’s behavior is to strongly encourage the use of electronic books. The extra features that come with electronic versions of books (i.e. animated pictures, built-in dictionaries) encourage more initiation from children and they display more positive emotions and behaviors. Recommendations to parents for academic achievement is to stimulate verbal engagement with their child and encourage them to think beyond the text. This activity can increase their literacy growth and help them prosper in school. Recommendations to parents for children’s cognitive thinking is to engage in read-aloud practices and shared book reading with their children before bedtime. By doing so, it enhances the attitudes and perceptions of parents and children towards many things, including their relationship, and strengthens the bond between each other. Recommendations to parents for children’s personality development is take part in reading books with moral themes. By reading books with moral themes, the child can build their character and expand on their personality. With our literature review, we hope to encourage parents to delve into the world of reading with their child and to encourage their child’s development to grow and prosper.
Kassandra Gossett is a junior psychology major with a minor in human services. She is a member of the Alpha Chi Honors Society. Kassandra hopes to obtain a graduate degree in the field of psychology and become a therapist with a focus on behavioral or humanistic therapy.
Luke Hopkins is a sophomore psychology major and is on the pre-law, pre-professional track. He is a member of the Honors College, a Rotaract Club officer, and is a Presidential Ambassador. Luke plans to use the knowledge and experiences that he has gained at Lander to attend law school and eventually become a practicing attorney.
Kylie Langley is a sophomore psychology major with a minor in child and family studies. She is a Housing Ambassador for the Department of Housing and Residence Life as well as the Treasurer for Phi Mu sorority and Vice President of the Rotaract Club.
Chunya Heflin is a junior psychology major at Lander University. In the future, she wants to be a mental health therapist that focuses mainly on children and/or adolescents. She is member of the Lander pep band and a club officer of the Anime-niacs.