Inculcate Reading Habits in your Child.

In today's times the young ones spend more time on the cool gadgets they flaunt, be it a swanky phone or tablet or a gaming console. The interest in reading is diminishing with each passing day. Ultimately who do you think is to blame? Do we blame the children who have been given these gadgets by their loved ones or do we pinpoint fingers at the parents or media who have exposed the children to these instruments. An important question is whether children's diminished interest in reading is due to overexposure to other faster & apparently more fun options available or is it just due to a lack of exposure to interesting & age-appropriate reading material.

Today, we have world class reading material available at our disposal at all times in the day, and night. Gone are those days when you need to pursue your child to walk to the nearest library every week to procure books of interest & gone are those days when the only way to read a book or an article was in an hard copy format. E-books are a fad & so are the gadgets that promote e-reading (and our children have all of them). Then why is reading is no more a habit pursued in those lazy afternoons or in those much awaited summer vacations?

Let's see how we can inculcate reading as a habit in our young ones. Let's make it fun for them; whether they choose to pick up a dusty old Agatha Christie from a second hand book store or they download an e book for it, should be entirely their decision.

To begin with Start Young. - If you were a dad who read to your child while he/she was still in the womb then applauds for you but if not then you didn't lose out on anything either. It's important that we expose children to books and reading material as early as possible. So for the extremely young ones, books with big pictures can be used and for the 5-6 yr. olds those with two-three lines per page can be effectively used.

Lead by examples.- You cannot expect your child to read if you detest it yourself. So set an example for your young one by reading yourself. Talk about books, your favourites, the ones you didn't like, etc., during family time. Include your children in discussions by asking them about a book both of you may have read & even books that your child loves but seem like a waste of time to you.

Read together. - Reading together is a beneficial activity. You can do role plays for comic books, take turns in reading aloud character roles from plays & the like. All in all your aim should be to make reading fun for everybody involved.

Frequent a bookstore and tag along your child with you. - If you love books then you surely know how it feels like to be in a bookstore where you have books on all the topics possible. These days most bookstores have a section dedicated to children where they can explore whatever interests them. Let them choose what they want to buy & refrain from giving your comments over what's good or bad unless asked for.

Join a library/ subscribe to a monthly magazine which everybody in the family can read. - Have at least an hour in a week dedicated for a visit to the library. Most libraries let you take books home at a minimal charge and it opens up a great avenue for reading without having to invest heavily in the same. Once again, if you do it then chances of your kids doing the same is high as well. Subscribing to a magazine that may have something for everyone in the family is a good way to boost reading as well as to keep up with new trends & topics. Further, if you have a magazine lying around in your house, then it may just catch somebody's attention and propel them to flip over.

Don't force. - Now let's get this right. You cannot force reading & all the more you cannot force them to read a particular book rather than the one they want to read. If you are doing this then you are probably causing more harm than you think. Let your child choose what they want to read. Intervene only if you think that your child is reading age inappropriate material which may have repercussions for him/her & explain why you think they should not be reading that.

A Good Selection of Books at Home is a must. - Keep books you like, your children like or may like, and keep it all on display. Have a small library of your own in the house. Having books in sight, where they can be touched & seen, picked up for reading as and when one wants can act as a boon for facilitating the habit.

Set up a special area. - Have that small corner in your house or in your child's bedroom where they can display their books, keep a beanbag if your child enjoys sitting on one & reading and have other such tiny arrangements just to make reading more fun for your child.

Lastly, remember, Reading is important, not the medium through which it is accomplished. So if your child enjoys the e- books more than a hard copy, it's ok. What's important is that they are reading & enjoying it too. We are living in a digital world & we should be happy that our children are keeping pace with the modern time because that's what matters in the long run.

Reading is a habit that will prove valuable for your child in the long run. Give your child the gift of reading that has the power to shape their lives. There is a whole world out there which will remain hidden from the one who doesn't read. So, go ahead, open the door to the magical world of books.


(Article first published in Evescape: December 2013)