Can Drawing Improve Reading & Spelling Skills In Children?

Children learn to read in the early stages through different methods. They begin to listen in the first stage and then try to understand the meaning of every word. In this way, once they get to understand the words and their meaning, they are on their way to reading themselves. At this stage, their spelling ability comes into the picture as they have to read difficult words in many instances.

Can Drawing Improve Reading & Spelling Skills In Children?

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But how does drawing come into the picture with regards to reading and spelling skills is the question asked by many parents. Drawing is the easiest way for children to express their imaginations and thoughts. They have several things in mind which they may not be able to speak out in words, but the same can be presented with the help of their drawings. Let us try to understand the correlation between all these skills in a simple manner.

Can Drawing Improve Reading & Spelling Skills In Children?

Drawing comes first for children:

Usually, children prefer colors and some characters which they don’t name sometimes. They can start doing it whenever they find the time or some brilliant idea to paint something. Have you noticed that kids begin drawing on their own whenever they find the necessary equipment? This has got nothing to do with their ability to read or write. Even a one-year-old kid can draw something when it is given a pen and paper.

This shows that they identify various things through pictures that come naturally for them without any training from others. In this regard, it is essential to develop this skill in them as it leads to the development of the brain at different levels. All these things are critical for developing various skills at a later stage when kids begin to read and write.

Why do children love comics more than regular books?

It is said that children are attracted to colors and characters as well as ideas that are presented in the form of a picture. If you carefully notice the choice of children when it comes to books, most of them prefer comics to the regular books that contain only text material. The simple reason for this choice is the fact that they find pictures more engaging than words.

Remember that drawing comes prior to other skills like reading and writing for any kid. You should always encourage them on this route as it helps build various skills connected to imagination, vocabulary, and memory. As the comics do not have three-dimensional visuals, children tend to imagine the movement of characters presented in the comics. This can help them with various motor skills needed for reading ability.

Apart from that, you will also be surprised to know that children who are exposed to reading comics in the early stages tend to become voracious readers. They will also observe the characters in the comics carefully, and this can improve their drawing skills in the future. In a way, every skill is interconnected as everything happens in the brain. In this regard, it is observed that there is a great improvement in reading and spelling skills of children who get into drawing various characters from the comic books.

The direct relation between vocabulary and drawing:

Researchers have analyzed that there is a direct relation between drawing ability and vocabulary of children. When a group of kindergarten kids were analyzed initially for their drawing skills and later for their vocabulary skills after a few months, it was found that children who fared well in drawing also did well in vocabulary tests.

This shows that children who are more interested in drawing tend to understand words through different routes, and this may help their vocabulary skills.

The relation between visual-motor integration skills and reading and spelling:

After analyzing the visual-motor integration skills of children, it was found that this often leads to improved reading and spelling abilities in children. When children are asked to draw, they have to pull up information from what they have read, the background for the image, the context for the scene along with colors and shapes of the characters. This requires a lot of effort, and it develops various skills in the brain. All these activities, in turn, aid children in developing a good memory for different things. This can certainly impact their spelling ability as it is all about using your memory to recollect the words.

In this manner, it can be understood that drawing can certainly improve various abilities in children. This includes reading also as children find it easier to read when they are able to develop the different skills required for drawing pictures. If you find that your children are interested in drawing, encourage them even if they are not so good at it in the early stages. This can undoubtedly improve other abilities in them in the long run.

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