Benefits of Reading for Students

The notion that children should be taught to read as early as possible is gaining traction across homes and schools. It is obvious that a child who learns to read early on and continues to read regularly will develop excellent reading skills.

However, teaching children how to read imparts various other benefits that become apparent in their school life. Following are just a few ways in which extensive reading can help students in their academics:

• Improves vocabulary and language – While reading, children subconsciously imbibe a lot of new words and phrases. They also absorb the mechanics of different types of sentence structures and other features without needing any specific instructions. This reflects directly in their speech and writing.
• Increases concentration – With regular reading, children learn to sit still for longer periods and their inherent restlessness will reduce. This develops into a concentrated ability to focus on specific tasks and patiently see them to completion.
• Enhances knowledge – As the children read more and more, they find out many new things about the world around them. In fact, reading about diverse topics will expose them to people, places and things that they would never experience otherwise. The general knowledge reflects in their academic performance too.
• Boosts imagination – Children who have the reading habit are found to be very creative and expressive. This is because they are always imagining about the people and events they read about in books. The words and descriptions paint a vivid picture in their minds which comes to the fore in their studies too.
• Deeper analysis - Regular readers are known to have a remarkable capacity for reflection as they are used to deliberating upon what they have read. This level of contemplation passes on to academic reading as well.
• Develops confidence – A child who is well-read will be more self-assured in his behavior and approach. This self-assurance will make the children more open to trying new things and participating in school activities.
• Thirsty for knowledge – Regular reading activates a deep love for learning in young children. They have a wide variety of interests and want to know more and more about everything in the world. This in fact encourages them to read more books about diverse topics.
• Become self-learners – Reading fine-tunes the children’s intellectual capacity to such an extent that they become independent learners who can understand things on their own. Their comprehension skills are at the peak and they can grasp complex subjects much more easily than students who are not as interested in reading. All they need is some guidance at best.

In sum, teaching children how to read early makes them avid readers and sets the stage for fine academic success. Their impulse to read manifests as a genuine interest in studies, not just language but other subjects as well.

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Ziff Technique In Tune With Common Core Standards

The Common Core Standards are in place in most of the states across USA and the set of English language arts and math standards dictate what students should know at the end of each grade. The curriculum at each stage is so designed to ensure that students graduating from high school are well-equipped with the skills and knowledge to succeed in college, career and life.

The framework and learning goals of the education standards are consistent across states, but schools are free to select the resources – be it best ways to teach writing, reading or math. The teachers can even adopt any suitable methods of instruction that will achieve the prescribed goals.

The new system is now more progressive, flexible and centered on the students. However, schools are still grappling with the underlying issues of what fits in with the Common Core Standards and what should be left out.

The Ziff technique of ‘From Writing to Reading’ has emerged as one of the ideal ways to bring this new initiative into play and equip students with the skills and abilities to face life after school. The phenomenal success rate of fromwritingtoreading.com is evident as it also empowers young children to comprehend the study material and think critically rather than go the rote route of yore.

The focus is finally shifting from how to teach your child to read as the Ziff technique actually teaches writing before reading. While the Ziff goal is never to teach children to read, the children actually bloom into early readers with an irrepressible zest to read and read!

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