There is a lot of research to show the positive effects of early reading. Teachers and educators constantly encourage children to read more and more. A few years ago, when my kids were six and one, we were in the same boat. Today, my younger son, who is seven can finish two or three books in a day. My older one who is 12 can't go to bed without reading a book. Our Saturday breakfast is now incomplete without a newspaper on the dining table. We don't read away individually and munch on a bagel or slurp our noodles. Instead, our kids enjoy discussing the comic strips and bits of news from the front page. I enjoy reading the neighborhood news and garden tips while my wife is browsing through arts and entertainment.
It's hard to pick a single thing that caused this change and I credit most of it to our shift in attitude. When my kids were young, we didn't subscribe to a newspaper because there was no time to read one. But when my parents visited us, we subscribed so that they could keep themselves busy. After they left, I decided to continue my subscription with the weekend only edition. Sure enough there was no one reading it for a long time. Some days, the paper made its way directly into the recycle bin. While my wife was a little irritated with the pileup of unread newspapers and waste of money, I stayed with the conviction that our money was being put to good use. I thought that it was important to surround yourself with enough reading material to cultivate a reading habit. If you don't have anything to read, you are probably not going to start reading. But, if you have plenty of stuff lying around and you are bored, you'll eventually start reading. I also started leading by example. I would make a determined effort to bring the newspaper on the table at breakfast time and read comic strips to my kids. It takes a little bit of time to grasp the jokes and the characters in the comic. Once they are hooked on to it, there is no going back. I also read them about important news items, tidbits and facts from the newspaper. After a while, both my kids were hooked onto comics. I left the paper for a whole week on the table and every time my kids ate at the table, they would flip the pages. My older son slowly began reading news articles. Now, I subscribe to two or three magazines and leave it on the dining table.
Newspapers were not the only ones they were introduced to. We constantly visited libraries and checked out a bag full of books. We reduced their TV time and rewarded them for reading. We made sure to bring material that suits their reading level. They lose interest if the material is too hard to grasp or not challenging enough. As they started to grow older, they cherished reading. They still love to watch TV or play games but if those two options are not available, they are hooked onto books.
Share your story on your kids reading habits below in the comments section.
by Mohan Rao
Founder StoryTruck.
