We are the lucky parents of a 12 year old who loves to read. When I meet the parents of other kids and hear them complain that children are addicted to the television, computer and mobile screens, I feel proud of my little one. He does love outdoor sports and these screens, but reading remains his passion. His reading hobby can be traced long back, to his preschool years. Here are few tips I want to share with the parents out there:
- The love for books can be induced easily at a tender age. Once the kid grows up, there is nothing much that you can do about this. You can keep on encouraging but you have to leave it on the child and time. So begin early!
- Early does not mean infant reading! Early means when the child understands what books and pages are, when the kid can differentiate at least between a picture and a text!
- If your kids' school has a good library, you are lucky. However, this does not mean that will make him/her a reader, but yes, they will be exposed to reading and books.
- Read with him. Children follow our example. We often have a scenario where all three of us are sitting with books and the room appears to be a reading room.
- If your toddler shows interest in pictures or stories, do not hesitate to buy books. It is the most important investment you are making. Go in for small but significant books so that you can get your kid some variety. Don't buy a huge collection and then expect the little soul to sit and digest it.
- Teach your kid to respect books. Love and respect go hand in hand. Eventually the child will learn to care for the books and you won't need to worry about issues like tearing pages and scribbling.
- Crossword is the word! Take him to bookshops like Crossword (Make sure your kid is not the one to mess up with books). This is the place where you can freely scan through the books of your choice. This is real quality time!
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