J A Browne

The Habit of Reading – The Secret

The Habit of Reading – The Secret

Do you recognise the man reading the book? If not, read on…

If so, you might be wondering what’s he got to do with reading habits.

I lost 5lbs

This morning, I stepped on the scale and was delighted to see I’d lost 5lbs. Finally! FINALLY! It felt like things were starting to work again.

Going to the gym, eating a healthy nutritionally dense diet (which I mostly do) and drinking plenty of water, too.

Since January, I’ve been trying to lose weight that has crept on since the pandemic started. This week, I determined to commit and I achieved the results I wanted.

Now, you might be wondering what my weight loss journey has to do with your child’s reading habits. Well, let me tell you…

The Secret

The difference this week was that I had been consistent with my health habits. And that’s all it is. Consistency.

It’s the same with reading. If we want the benefits that reading gives us, we have to, not only read, but do it consistently.

I once read a quote that sums it up:

Reading one book is like eating one crisp.

Diane Duane (but she said potato chip!)
Arnold Schwarzenegger reading a book

Just like bodybuilders (Yes, it’s Arnie – an avid reader!), if we want the results for our brains, for our health and longevity as they want for their bodies, reading has to be a consistent habit.

And with reading amongst children and young people at a 15-year low and mental health concerns amongst the young rising rapidly, I can’t help but feel that there’s a link there.

As I mentioned in my post The Sad Story of Reading, I believe there are a great many factors causing this decline that I’ll be sharing my thoughts on as I believe this decline isn’t just bad for children and their emotional well-being, the knock-on effects could be huge.

Next week, I want to talk about the phenomenon that was… Harry Potter.

Get your wands out!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: