Reading comprehension is the most important academic fundamental, with immeasurable benefits. Some reading comprehension benefits are well-documented: improved reasoning skills, insightful writing, faster reading, and better performance in many subjects. These benefits alone should inspire parents to focus on their children’s reading comprehension. But they don’t.
We hope the overlooked benefits below will inspire more people to go all-in on reading comprehension.
Overlooked Reading Comprehension Benefits 
Strong readers get ahead in school with less stress, and they get a better high school education. Here’s why:
- Strong readers interpret narratives in English and retain more information in history and science.
- Strong readers enroll in more AP courses, the only way to guarantee a better public school education.
- Strong readers excel in AP English, U.S., and Euro., enhancing their GPAs while earning college credits.
- Strong readers share classes with other advanced students, most of whom are great influences on each other.
- Strong readers gain academic self-confidence, an underrated, long-term differentiator.
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Tips for Teaching and Inspiring Children To Read
There are several opportunities that parents have to instill a love of reading:
- Use books as rewards for young children to imprint the value of books in their brains.
- Create fun book clubs with friends or schoolmates, and invite popular teachers to lead them.
- Find book series that interest your children. I started with “The Hardy Boys.”
- Create your own book groups and make sure your children see them in action.
- 24 Ways to Motivate Beginning Readers 14 Ways to Encourage Grade-Schoolers to Read
Here is one of the three most important tips for parents with young children:
The behavior you model has more impact on your children than your “parenting.”
You might respond with a “no, duh,” but are you regularly a “conscious” role model?
This has been the biggest lesson that I have learned with my four daughters and the 20,000 families who have come to Lafayette Academy.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree; 80% of the time, difficult parents have difficult children and friendly parents have friendly children.
Want to Boost Your Children’s Reading Comprehension?
Lafayette Academy has a fantastic reading program (in person and online) to help K-8 students enhance their reading skills. Click here to learn more about Strategic Reading, a program with lasting reading comprehension benefits. Strategic Reading combines sophisticated technology with experienced teachers to help students accelerate their reading levels.
Reading Comprehension skills provide lifelong benefits.
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Reading comprehension benefits.