Why does reading matter for children?
By Ronald W. Holmes, Ph.D.
When children read regularly, it helps them to develop their curiosity, imagination, and creativity. It helps them to learn new words, enhance their focus and concentration, and perform better in their academic subjects. It also helps children to learn about things that are happening in the world around them and apply those things to their daily living. Moreover, reading enables children to use their imagination for “picturing characters, visualizing their settings and environment, and guessing what’s coming next.” (High Speed Training).
As a vehicle for children to read, Ronald Holmes has written a series of books for children ranging from ages 1-10. In Holmes’ latest book entitled Jacob’s Dream! A Story on People and Cultures from different Countries, Jacob is particularly curious about why some people are dark and light complexion (like himself). This is common for children to spontaneously start talking about skin color and other different characteristics of people from them (gender, hair, eyes, etc.) as they become more vocal and aware of their surroundings. This book provides information about the different languages, foods, and clothes of people from various cultures allowing children to grasp and relate these cultures to their own family culture.
In addition, this book provides colorful illustrations to capture children’s imagination while developing their reading and thinking skills. Children can color the illustrations on each page, which further enhances the learning process. It will be especially useful for elementary teachers and home-school parents as they can use the book’s lesson plan tied to the Common Core State Standards to facilitate classroom instructions on people and cultures from different countries, build student vocabulary and apply learning to practice. If you are interested in ordering this book, visit: Authorhouse.com, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com.
Dr. Ronald Holmes is the author of 21 books and publisher of “The Holmes Education Post,” an education focused Internet newspaper. Holmes is a former teacher, school administrator, test developer and district superintendent.
