The Importance Of Reading Habits In The Glass Castle

Fulfilling the basic physical needs for children is not the only part to raise the outstanding person anymore. Establishing good habits and behaviors has more influence on children’s future developments. In spite of not having steady and nutritious meals, children with proper education still can evolve their interests and become an expert in that field. In the Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls, the Walls are always moving, running out of food and money because their parents did not have stable jobs. However, the parents love their children and always encourage them. They also believed in the importance of education. Even with a rough childhood, the author, Jeannette still achieved her dream job to become a correspondent and a writer.

From the Glass Castle, Jeannette’s mother read picture books with Jeannette and her siblings in their early childhood. This activity established good reading habits for Jeannette and her siblings. When she was older, after dinner, her father read the dictionary with the kids, looked up the words they did not know, and discussed the definitions (Walls 56). Because of the reading habits her parents gave her, every time Jeannette did not understand a word, she looked up the word in the dictionary. The routine of reading dictionary after dinner and the habit of looking up an unknown word in the dictionary helped Jeannette build up her vocabulary. With abundant vocabulary and excellent reading skills, Jeannette did not have problem with her college admission test. Studies show that having good reading habits not only increase the volume of children’s vocabulary but also help them perform well on their exams. In the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Policy Information Center 's report, The Family: America 's Smallest School, the author points out the importance of reading to children:

… Being read to has been identified as a source of children’s early literacy development, including knowledge of the alphabet, print, and characteristics of written language. By the age of two, children who are read to regularly display greater language comprehension, larger vocabularies and higher cognitive skills than their

Jeannette’s parents did a good job in helping their daughter believe in herself. For example, one night Jeannette thought she heard a monster was under her bed, but instead of telling her there was no monster, her father grabbed a weapon and went looking for the monster. He called it “Demon Hunting”. He told Jeannette that demon like to scare people but in the face to face combat (Walls 36-37). This helped Jeannette face her fear and build up her confidence. Because her father did not make Jeannette felt bad about herself, she believed that she could do anything. Jeannette’s can-do-attitude, which assisted her became a correspondent, encouraged her to try anything she wanted to do. Another example, from the article “Self-esteem for children”, the article points out the importance of building children 's self-esteem. Self-esteem means people feel good about themselves and have the confidence to try or do anything they want. The article also says that people with healthy self-esteem are more likely to develop their interests and contribute to their own community. (“Self-esteem for