Why is reading so important?

The biggest difference between children who do get into a grammar or selective independent school and those who do not tends to be their breadth of vocabulary.

Children develop a broad vocabulary not by learning by rote (although this can help) but by seeing and hearing words in a number of different contexts over a period of time. They build up a complicated contextual picture of the meaning of words and a very important part of that is seeing words frequently when they read.

Without reading children simply do not and cannot develop the broad vocabulary they will need to perform to the best of their ability.

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