There’s an undeniable shift that leaves kids with fewer chances to practice the slow, sustained kind of reading that builds focus, imagination and emotional resilience, writes Dr. Benjamin N. Powers, executive director of The Southport School, in an eSchool News essay.
Today, days are fuller, information moves faster, and screens offer a source of constant entertainment.
When I visit classrooms and talk with teachers, I hear a common concern: More students can read the words on the page, but fewer seem able to truly stay with a story.
Teachers describe students who can read aloud accurately but struggle to follow a narrative from beginning to end: They lose track of characters, forget what happened in the previous chapter, and grow restless when a story takes time to unfold. Even in kindergarten, teachers find that classic nursery rhymes and fairy tales are new to many kids.
Those universal stories are important tools that help children build vocabulary, stretch their attention spans, and begin to understand other people’s perspectives.
When children listen to stories or read on their own for longer stretches, they’re quietly practicing staying focused, thinking through challenges, imagining how someone else might feel, and managing frustration when things get hard.
Deep reading depends on these skills. When a child follows a character across a chapter, they are keeping earlier events in mind. When they predict what might happen next, they are considering possibilities. When they stay engaged through a complicated plot, they are practicing focus and persistence.
Narratives invite the brain to weave together language, memory, emotion, and perspective at the same time. Research shows that deep reading engages the parts of the brain that support attention, memory, and flexible thinking.
You do not need a complicated program or strict rules when encouraging your child to read. Here are a few tips:
- Keep reading aloud together, even after your child can read independently.
- Let your child linger in a story without rushing to “what did you learn” questions.
- Reread favorite books; familiar stories and repetition deepen understanding.
- Talk about characters and the choices they make.
- Let your child see you reading for pleasure.
Most importantly, make it a priority to find a few minutes each day for reading when no one is in a hurry.
Our kids are constantly being pulled in dozens of directions. Helping them learn to stay with a story may be one of the simplest ways to build the focus, empathy, and flexible thinking they need for life in and out of the classroom.
eSchool News
