Donna Espinoza, Staff Reporter
Reading is usually considered a personal hobby, but it serves a vital role in the field of education. We get most of our skills from reading, and from a young age, we learn to talk and understand words primarily from reading books. The skills we gain from this include but are not limited to: vocabulary expansion, stronger analytical thinking, and better writing skills. All these skills we get help us get through school and life.
There are many reasons why we should read everyday; studies show that the brain needs exercise to keep it strong and healthy. Our brain gets filled with all the words and knowledge from the process of reading and gets more challenged by the levels of books you read through the years.
Librarian Ms. Joyce here at Rancho Cucamonga High School explains the skill that reading is most important to developing, as she says, “Definitely language is the biggest one; how to communicate, the vocabulary… The number one way to learn a language is by reading, speaking and listening.”
Our choice of words through the books that we choose to read can help us expand the everyday vocabulary we use in verbal conversations. With our focus on reading as much as we can, we can expand our knowledge with the words you see and the assignments that you are assigned that require reading.
Though homework is a primary way by which we read, there are many differences between reading inside and outside of school. Layla Lawrence, the president of book club, expresses this fact when she states, “Inside of school they [teachers] want you to read for grades, so it makes it a little difficult for some students. Outside of school it is more for entertainment.”
We start learning how to read either from school or a parent, and we continue to read in school to improve our language. Reading more books can help us with jobs in the future, as we are able to understand instructions by reading the words chosen for us to comprehend.
Going more in depth into everyday life, taking time to read can help with stress, as it has been proven that reading can stop the stress of the brain as we focus on the words of a book instead of the stresses of our lives. The books you read can also help with succeeding in your day to day life, depending on the genre, with a prime example being self help books that aim to help us with our problems.
Reading is a great hobby to get into, and reading a book outside of school that does not deal with academics is a way to get away from stress and to just read for fun.
The Cat's Eye 