Why Comic Books Are Excellent for Helping Kids Learn To Read

According to Josh Elder, the founder of Reading with Pictures, there are the “Three E’s of Comics”.
The first E is ENGAGEMENT.
Comics, comic books or comic strips are a combination of colorful images and drawings in chronological order with short dialogues. The reader, the child, is actively thinking of what goes on in with the image. He will look at the facial expressions, the background and the “body language” of the image. From there, he will connect the meaning of the images with the words written.
The second E is EFFICIENCY.
Comics are extremely compact. All the information about the story is summed up in a short amount of time. Making it an efficient teaching tool for children. Kids have the capacity to grasp the line of thought and content of the comics.
The third E is EFFECTIVENESS.
When kids decipher the story in comics, they process both the image and the words as one. As they recall what was in the comics and the learning process begins.
There is a neurological experiment termed as Dual-Coding Theory of Cognition. It proved that people manage scripts and pictures in different parts of the brain. However, if the words and imageries are paired together, it is easily remembered. Thus, children learn quicker and more accurately.

Comic books cater to different learning styles.
Children have different learning styles. If your child is a verbal or linguistic learner, the words used in telling the story are ideal for them. Some comics have rhymes, which suit musical or rhythmic learners. The repeated use of panels and other elements establish a pattern in their minds and appeal to them.
We haven’t forgotten visual learners. Comic books are fantastic for that learning style in that pictures are used to tell a story.
These are just a few of the learning styles that comic books cater to. For whichever learning style that suits your child, there is a comic that will work.

Try to make the environment as relaxed as possible. Read comics with them and watch them blossom not only in reading but also in life.
