The Benefit of Reading Habit for Children

Reading is one aspect of child development, accompanied an influenced by other growths. Reading development takes place as the child grows mentally, physically, perceptually, experientially and emotionally. (Smith 1963,50)

Reading is a simple activity but truly reading can give great influence for children development of their personality involvement, cognition and intelligence. As we know personality is an integration of social, emotional, and behavioral characteristics. These characteristics emerge as natural endowments, which interact with experience. Related to this matter, books can give experience and encourage children reader to internalize particular ways of seeing the world and help them shape their development as individuals. Furthermore, reading can be a ways to sharp the children intelligence and cognition as an important part of their mental development. Child psychologists often emphasize that reading even for simple picture books can involve a complex cognition process. This cognition and intelligence process happens because the reader not only need to be able to decode the verbal text but also its grammar, syntax, semantic, structure and so on in reading the book material. As a result, it obvious then that reading provides an educational opportunity for children to grow or develop mentally either intelligently.

 Reading is also one of the best ways to expand a child's imagination. Children have many intellectual curiosities. Their quest for knowledge leads them to seek information about sun, star, moon, earth tress, flower, and so on. They want to know about airplanes, trains, ship and automobiles. They eager for enlightenment about human beings, events, relationship, occupants ways of living, heroes, battle, kingdom and so on. This thirst for information can be satisfied through reading a book. A good book or reading an informative piece makes the ideal companion; it is interesting and will expand the children’s imagination.

Children who grow up with the books will find its excess when they face the problem. It is because an avid reader tends to have a better grasp on realities and are known to be better judges of people. Reading as a habit has always allowed nurturing a wholesome sense of well being. In this way children may become wiser to solve the problem because they have broader knowledge and experience that they gain from the books.

Reading also embraces a greater range and variety material than is available through any other communication agency. The heritage of the ages is stored up in reading as it never can be stored in radio or movies either television. The reading process is more adjustable to the children individual purpose and interest than any other medium. Reading also more accessible, we can read the books at the time it is needed.