Why Reading Matters: How Lifelong Readers are Made

Between work deadlines, after-school activities, and the endless hum of digital notifications, reading can easily slip to the bottom of our to-do lists. It’s understandable, modern life moves quickly, and quiet moments can feel like luxuries. But that’s exactly why making time to read, even a little, matters so much.

When families make reading a shared habit — even a few pages a night — children begin to see it not as homework but as part of who they are. Reading together says, “This matters.” It builds connection, vocabulary, and most importantly, a sense that slowing down to read is worthwhile.

Reading offers something that scrolling and streaming simply can’t: stillness, imagination, and depth. Studies have long shown that reading reduces stress, improves sleep, sharpens memory, and strengthens empathy. But beyond the science, reading invites us, and our children, to pause, reflect, and connect with ideas bigger than ourselves.

For children, this is especially vital. Books nurture curiosity, build vocabulary, and open windows to worlds they might never otherwise see. Reading teaches patience in an age of instant everything. It trains attention and critical thought — skills that form the foundation for learning across every subject. When a child gets lost in a story, they’re also learning to focus, to imagine, and to think beyond first impressions.

Yet, as adults, we often model the opposite. Many of us read fewer books now than we did as teenagers. It’s easier to reach for a phone than a novel, to fill a quiet moment with a quick scroll rather than a chapter. We tell ourselves we’re too tired or too busy — but, ironically, those are the very times when reading can restore us most. Taking just ten minutes before bed or bringing a book along for a commute can shift our mindset from consuming information to engaging with it.

Reading, particularly long-form reading, strengthens and trains critical thinking — the ability to question, to connect, to see nuance. It’s what helps children grow into thoughtful, informed citizens who can distinguish fact from fiction and empathy from assumption. In a world overflowing with bite-sized content and misinformation, that kind of literacy is no small thing.

So, even when life is full — perhaps especially then — pick up a book. Let your child see you reading. Talk about what you’re both discovering. Because in the long run, those quiet moments spent with stories may do more than entertain; they shape the way we think, empathise, and understand the world.

The Readathon is a great reason to make time to read together — one page, one story, one connection at a time.