Books as Tools for Childhood Character Development
The child’s character is one crucial area for development that every parent needs to understand. A person’s character is directly related to their attitudes and behaviours, and thus, greatly affects a person’s outcome in life. Character development, along with attitudes, morals, and behaviour should be given importance, especially during the child’s early years. From toddlerhood to pre-teens, children should be taught about the good and the bad and should be moulded into emphatic human beings. Developing the child’s emotional intelligence the same way intelligence is developed is crucial to ensure the child’s overall well-being.
The ability of a person to identify, comprehend, express, regulate, and use their own and other people’s emotions is known as emotional competence (EC), and it is thought to be a significant predictor of that person’s capacity to adapt to their environment. As a parent, you might ask how will you be able to integrate teaching values to children in a way that they will understand and appreciate at their age.
Studies show that children’s books that teach about values, emotions, and character are a great way to teach values to your little one. Our emotions enable us to connect with others and comprehend how a circumstance affects how we feel. This then aids in our decision-making on whether we want to be there or nearby, depending on the circumstance. Books are great tools for character development because they are engaging and children will understand the idea better when it’s written in a fun story that they’ll be able to appreciate.
Children need frequent and deliberate practice in order to acquire emotional knowledge. And, the best way to introduce them to different people, behaviours, ideas, and emotions is through stories. By reading storybooks with your child you will be able to discuss different people, what they are like, how they behave, and why they behave the way they do. A child’s curious mind will always ask, and your role is to provide them with the answers. This process of reading and later on, exchanging ideas allows knowledge to flow naturally!
Childhood Reading Habit: Personalised Books for an Emotionally Intelligent Child
A recent study by the National Literacy Trust suggests that children pay more attention to books that have direct personal relevance to them such as personalised books. Interest in the book or reading material has also been found to have a direct impact on learning, comprehension, and attention to influence emotional participation (Schiefele, 1999 as cited by Clark and Phythian-Sence,2008).
As a parent, if you want to teach values and shape the behaviours of your little one, reading a book with them is your best option. Frequent reading with your child leaves a lasting impact on them, especially on their emotional development. Reading is an intimate bond and it’s so special because it’s a quiet moment where you’ll be able to go into a meaningful conversation with your child. When reading a story together, you can stop and point out the emotions and behaviours of certain characters in the story and exchange ideas with your child. Through this, you’ll be able to understand how they perceive certain behaviours and emotions. In your own meaningful conversation with your child, you will be able to inspire and affect how they perceive these behaviours.
Getting them a super personalised book is even more special. The sheer specialness of seeing your own name on a page in a well-loved and familiar context. For children, at least, it broadens,
the book’s focus and it makes explicit the idea that they are welcome in the written world (Williams, 2014). Books with personalised elements are relatable to the child. Through a personalised book, they can see themselves in the story that they are reading. A personalised book leaves more impact on the child especially when they are reading books that teach about values and behaviours because of the lasting impact that it leaves them.
In a super personalised book, the child sees himself as the main character or the hero of the story. In the mind of the child, this is empowering- seeing themselves in a published book! Whatever you teach them through the story becomes easier, they will pay more attention because the book has personal relevance to them. You can even personalise the character in the story among over 200 variations available. Your child also gets featured as the hero!
Emotional intelligence is one of the most important things that you will have to teach a growing child. When a child is emotionally intelligent, they are better at deciding and are more rational in making decisions. A personalised book is one of the best things you can buy for them. Giving your child a personalised book is like giving them the chance to learn about their emotions, values, and behaviours.