v Cultivate the
habit of Bedtime Stories:
At the end of the
day after the
child is fed and ready for bed, I personally feel is the best time to cultivate the habit of reading. The child is basically content and at peace with himself. We should make use of this content phase of the child’s day to read good stories with practical and day-to-day moral values. I, myself followed this habit and from experience know that it has helped immensely in the development of a regular
reading habit. Now the stage has come that my son reads stories to me, expressions et al!
v Gift a Book;
A book is the best thing you can present to a child. It is a universal fact that a child is relatively happier when gifted with an expensive, elaborate toy. But we must make a child feel that a book can be equally exciting like any other toy. Read to your child with expressions, solve puzzles with him, do a lot of cutting and pasting using activity books and you will find that in no time your child will be dragging you to the shops to buy him another book. Gift a book for every occasion- good results, for helping you at home, for sharing things with his siblings – any occasion that is worth celebrating.
v
Library at Home:
Let your child take pride in possessing and displaying his books. It should be his responsibility to arrange his books and look after them. Encourage him to take care of his personal library himself.
v Library period in School:
The
School administration in every good school should ensure that there is at least one library period for each class of the school, every week. The conscious teachers should also maintain a class library for the children to read in the arrangement periods. On the other hand, the child should make maximum use of the time allotted in the class timetable for the use of the library.
v Variety of Subject Matter:
It should be the duty of the teachers and parents to carefully select the subject matter and expose the child to a variety of material, so that reading does not become monotonous for the young mind. Exposure to a spectrum of subjects instils in the young mind, a rainbow of knowledge.
v Fixed schedule for reading:
When the child is young, set aside some time when he reads books. Let this time be used regularly, so that a pattern is set up in his routine. Once a schedule is set up, a sense of discipline is instilled in the
mind of the child. He knows that a certain task is done at a certain time. This attitude towards reading will be helpful later in life in making a schedule, even for studying.
Each child is different from another. So, it may be possible that this discussion is not suitable in parts for some. But if you use your ingenuity and mix ’n’ match these methods, I am positive that you will be successful in developing some pattern of reading in your ‘Bundle of Joy”.
Here’s wishing you all, pages full of joyous reading!
More summaries about the Inculcating good reading habits.