Reading has always been the go-to indoor activity of leisure before the technological era, which slowly started dissipating in fashion due to a wide array of causes. When kids are rather young, it has been comparatively easier for parents to indulge in it, but as they grow up it is rather difficult to manage the peace for the activity. Moreover, it is well-known that there is a great importance of inculcating this habit in a young child’s mind, as they get the ample time to work their way through what truly interests them in the realm of books. Apart from just the generic benefits, many aspects such as improved focus, better language comprehension, vocabulary refinement, academic enthusiasm, et al. are majorly shaped by this very simple habit.
So before you hand out an iPad or resort to social media to entertain your little one, try out these simple yet effective ways to convince your kids how they can learn by having fun too.
Start reading first
It is highly imperative that the kids are used to seeing you read if you expect them to be doing it too. Be it reading the morning paper, a book in your purse when you are travelling, or just magazines and tabloids in waiting areas.
Using electronic equipments for hours and not doing the same with books could throw off your child’s interest in the same activity, and they would never be convinced that it is indeed something they should be doing. As parents, you have the responsibility of teaching your kids the very basics, if they look up to them for essentially everything in life.
This obviously entails having you read them bedtime stories or some books that they like to hear when they were infants. But if you toss that habit or stop caring about maintaining this routine – be it them reading on their own – they will consider it as time to stop doing so, which isn’t the case. It probably is better off for you too, to come together as a family and read as a form of unwinding from stress and screens.
Make time for togetherness
If reading is something you wish that your child really cherishes and continues to do in their life, you need to contribute some time to that trait in whatever way you can. To illustrate, if you think you have some time off, before bed then you should read them something off of the shelf instead of letting TV put them to sleep. Doing so not only saves them from wasting some time, but what they can’t comprehend can be expressed by you in such an nuanced way, that they will grow interested in something that would’ve been in the shelves gathering dust.
Many researchers claim that the voice of a parent or a family member, reading to them spiked their interest in thinking more about it and eventually start reading the book themselves. If you are a working parent and you can’t shell out much time for your kids normally, this could be the most intimate way to contribute to your together time with your kids.
Think of creative ways to be present in the way of nurturing their inclination towards reading by sweet gestures. You could asking your child where the story has reached in the book, what did they like about the book or the characters, what kinds of book are they generally into, and so on. These sweet remarks makes them feel like there is a scope for discourse, which plays a vital role in continuing to do so by themselves.
Make associations and memories with reading
Let your kids find beauty in the little remarks, notes or letters that you could write to them on various events of your child’s life. Not only do these make for adorable souvenirs, these thoughts seep into your child’s demeanour, which they can carry on further in their lives for their loved ones too.
The essential idea behind this method is kick-start your kid’s creativity as they start reading bits and pieces of fond emotions and also think for themselves how to read and write for others, thus putting in the results of having been into reading as a hobby. This makes concrete steps towards how they form a bond with pen and paper, and not constantly resorting to technology to cut to the chase of the things.
Let them decide their pick
It’s understandable that by the time you have your kids, you would have preferences and values that are too shaped up and want to include them in your child’s reading choices. However, it is probably the easiest you can make in turning this fun activity into an assignment they probably don’t want to do.
I mean, if they wanted to read Shakespeare or Robert Frost they probably would just pick up their literature textbooks – but they don’t. The clearly reason is that, for anything to be preferred by any young kid has to be because they truly want to do so. It is that simple, if it is a comic book about their favourite superhero, or some crime thriller – if they start where they want to, they might just be able to gauge their own interests and plausible suggestions of their parents or friends.
Those who quit as adolescents
It is probably the most common phenomenon that your kid who used to read just fine, decided that reading isn’t on their agenda of to-do things anymore. Now this is something you cannot do anything about, except from understanding their process.
It is common for teens to undergo and accept many changes when they come into their high schools and colleges, and a part of that route is to not like whatever they used to, as they feel it comes in their way of being who they want to be.
If they truly used to like reading and choose to not right now, probably you shouldn’t haggle them back into doing so. Because, chances are that the next read of theirs would be something that quenches their curiosity, be it politics or poetry.
BRAINY – A division of Brain Child offers students a Learning which helps in Brain Training for Children in the age group of 6 to 16-years-old. They have a methodology of Training which Involves Meditation / Digitized Music – to open new neural pathways in the brain and Neurobic Exercises which help the mind stay agile and alert. The Blended training provides all-round development of the brain with multiple benefits.
This program helps in developing the concentration and Focus of the child which is a necessary ingredient in developing reading habits.
