Do you remember doing newspapers article summary when you were a student? Cutting and pasting an article and doing a summary of it over holidays? There are many reasons why our teachers made us do that!
Reading newspapers with your young child is an excellent way to promote literacy. As they get older, reading newspapers on their own is also very beneficial. Newspapers are not only a source of information, but they also help students to become better readers.
1. Common Topics
When you read a newspaper with your child, it gives you something to talk or plan about together. For example, “Our Singapore Botanic Gardens is now a UNESCO World Heritage site! Shall we go for a picnic there?”
2. Enjoy Reading
Reading not only books, but newspapers as well, benefits your children in that many studies indicate that students with top marks and who genuinely enjoy learning were read to before preschool.
3. Learn Basics of Reading
Children learn the basics of reading, such as reading from left to write, that printed words have meaning, and that words represent individual sounds that make up words. They also learn that when you turn the page, the story continues.
4. Attention Span
Reading newspapers to your children can also increase their attention span, which is important for building literacy.
5. Increase Exposure
Younger children learn about numbers, letters, colors, and shapes when you go through a newspaper with them. Older children can deepen and expand their interest in a particular topic when they read newspapers or an adult reads stories on interesting topics to them.
6. Cognitive Skills
Listening to or reading a newspaper with your child can promote their listening skills and ability to imagine.
7. Reading & Comprehension Skills
Young readers will learn how to read information quickly and build their reading comprehension skills. Newspapers are written to present the most important information first and to have graphics that provide summaries of important points. Students learn to read quickly for the information they need, and this is a vital skill in the classroom.
8. Visual Literacy
When children read a newspaper, they see how the columns, pictures, advertisements, headings, and captions work together. This is a skill that can be translated to test taking when there is not always time to read every word.
9. Entertainment beyond Technology
Time to break away from the iPads and smartphones! Keep your child busy elsewhere. Besides, long hours on gadgets have been proven to be bad for eyes.
10. Increased Vocabulary
When children read and hear language that they or you read to them and in your conversations with them their vocabulary increases significantly. How about adding an extra practice of building a vocabulary log with them?
If your child struggles to read the daily newspaper, perhaps you can start by introducing newspapers that caters to kids and teens. Check out our favourite reads below:
Interested in magazines over newspapers? Click here to view magazines recommended for children.
Don't miss out on our articles! You will find them useful somehow, from parenting to exam preparation tips to best deals! Join our mailing list to receive updates on articles and best deals!