Reading Habit From Childhood Transforms Life

Rita Ramamurthy Gupta Author and Reading Coach

Most parents want to develop the habit of reading in their children, but they do not know how to start it. They also lose the battle against the screen. It’s a double whammy! Today on the occasion of National Reading Day, let us know ways to deal with it.

Every parent should know that the healthy development of the child depends on slow-dopamine. The child sets a goal, struggles for it, fails but continues trying and ultimately succeeds. The neurochemical reward obtained from this creates the ability to tolerate frustration and motivation to work.

Touchscreen devices do just the opposite: a fast-dopamine cycle every 8 seconds. In such a situation, children who grow up on screens are not able to develop the brain structures necessary to sustain efforts for long periods of time. The consequences of this are visible in the form of measurable deficits in prefrontal development during the critical period between 2 and 9 years of age. The opportunity to change this starts from birth through activities like play, communication skills and developing the habit of reading in the child.

For ages birth to 3 years: When you read aloud to a baby, the intonation and intonation of your voice begins to synchronize with the baby’s neural movements. This is called entrainment. Scientific research has found that speaking to an infant in a slow, rhythmic manner significantly enhances cortical tracking of speech in infants as young as seven months of age. Their brain is in sync with your voice and learns the structure of language from it.

In such a situation, read daily for the first few weeks after the birth of the child. Choose books that have clear rhythm and repetition (children’s rhymes, simple stories with repeating passages). Keep the pace slow. Enhance body language. Remember that what matters more than the words is how you read them. You are not teaching the child vocabulary yet; Preparing his brain for the ability to understand sound patterns – this develops the ability to read.

For ages 3 to 6: As children approach school age, reading to them at bedtime becomes one of the most impactful things parents can do. When the body transitions to sleep, the brain enters a state of theta waves. These are linked to imagination, emotional memory and creative engagement. Stories assimilated on the threshold of sleep have a greater chance of being recorded in the memory.

A bedtime story isn’t just about an emotional connection. This is a strategy. Parents, make it mandatory to have the habit of reading before sleeping. Read slowly for warmth and without haste. Choose stories that have emotional complexity. Characters who face dilemmas, feel fear, experience wonder. Let the child ask questions and stay immersed in the story. This is the time when the brain is most receptive.

For ages 6 to 10: When a child reads and actively understands the words written on a page, his brain is dominated by beta waves. These are associated with concentrated thinking, decision making and active learning. A 2024 EEG study found that the beta system is wired better in good readers. Reading printed books activates beta and gamma power more than reading on a screen in children aged 6 to 8 years.

A child who becomes a regular reader by adulthood has a brain that concentrates more deeply, records memories more efficiently, generates insights more readily, and sustains attention in a world designed for distraction. This is not a small benefit, it is a fundamental advantage.

A child who becomes a regular reader by adulthood has a better brain, concentrates more efficiently, records memories more efficiently, generates insights, and maintains attention in a world designed for distraction. (These are the author’s own views)

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