There are some sights that warm your heart like when you finish a call and see your child buried in a book you know you have done something right 🙂 Fortunately for me its a sight that I get to witness very often, Aren’t pictures like this very heartwarming. They give me hope that reading is not going to die a slow death to ipads and the likes. They give me hope that books are going to be alive and the kids of the next generation will still know the pleasures like smell of a book
People often look at O and tell me you must be lucky, he loves books so much, these days kids hardly read all they want is an iPad. Though I agree that touchwood I have been lucky but this luck has come its share of hardwork.
Reading is a habit I wasn’t introduced to as a child. I mean neither my mom or dad are into reading big time and while growing up reading meant course books. However that changed somewhere when one of my uncles introduced me to Famous Five and there hasn’t been any looking back ever since. So whenever I used to think about my child there was one thing clear in my head, love of reading is something I want to pass down to child… Love of reading is something I want to introduce to him as early as possible and something I was keen to cultivate in him. So here are just a few things I did and think should generally to encourage reading in your child
Give him a headstart : The first thing I ever bought for him was a book, yeah might sound funny but its true. We started reading to him as soon as we could settle down with the initial euphoria and madness of becoming parents. Did he understand, most likely not but kids have memory and that made him comfortable with books. Fabric books, books with textures and board books are perfect for kids.. By the time he was 5 months, he would often lie like this and play with his favorite fabric book
Take time to read to him : As they grow older, take time to read to him EVERYDAY… Make a schedule, a time of the day which is dedicated to reading.. May be bed time? In our house time before bed time is reading time. We started with reading one book to him when he was small, slowly the number of books increased (he asked for it) and we would read four books to him. Now we read two books to him, he reads two himself and then sleeps
Let them choose the books : From as early as one year, O had preference on what books he likes, encourage them to select what books they want to read to. Read those books everytime they want. It might get boring to you as they will want the same book over and over again but trust me they will eventually get done with it and move on to another. The thing is the they can only assimilate little and also familiarity is a big thing at that age and hence they want to read it over and over again
Nothing like a good library : Reading can be an expensive habit (ask me ask me) also there is nothing like a charm of a library. Introduce your child to a library early in life. There are kids libraries in town like Hippocampus, as well as bigger libraries like Easy Lib have kids section. Take him, let me explore, let him spend time in the company of books. Let him learn to relish them
Make it a part of the family time : At our house, you can often find all three of us immersed in our respective books sitting next to each other. Make it a habit to read together, when the child is younger give them picture books and let me just browse through it. Start with smaller time durations even 5 minutes is good and slowly increase as the concentration span of your kids increases and he goes from seeing pictures to reading himself. Switch off that TV and open books for the family time and you can thank me later 😉
and last but not the least – the biggest way kids learn is by example, so pick up that book yourself too 🙂
Monika's World 
That picture of him as a 5 month baby with a book stole my heart and my tongue..
Books are MY life and it is really important yes. I remember when my younger one started reading books all by himself, it was party time for my sister and me cos we both are book lovers.
I still persist in gifting books to kids for their birthdays . Much better than a toy they might not use after a while. And yes if you want them to read pick up one yourself
You had me nodding away through the post. I agree completely. I come across parents who lament that their child doesn’t read. It’s easy to figure out why. They don’t see reading as a fun thing to do. If they see us parents enjoying it its only a matter of time before they do too. And I started early as a child, and did the same for daughter. Today nothing excites her more than a visit to the book shop! And nothing makes me happier!
Nodding hard at everything in this post, and at the comments too. Most important point is easy access to books and walking the talk. Spot on. everything else just falls in place. In fact, some days the fight is to get the kid OFF her book, and do something else that needs doing. Not complaining at the larger picture, though.
On a different note, it would have been great if this marathon blogging can be held again, in a more convenient month like Feb, for eg., when there are not so many holidays. Would have loved to join in, Monika, but too tied up with stuff. Reading all your posts, though. Keep them coming. 🙂
This is awesome! My wife and I are expecting twins (gals) so we’ll be buying tonssss of books. Great used bookstores in our area. And libraries…of course! Thanks for sharing!
Its sad to see gizmo freak kids of these days.. and heartening to see parents like you taking effort to introduce kids to books.
I am blessed that way to be a mother of a bookworm .. I have to make no effort for she gravitates to books so much. Sometimes I worry whether she has more book time than play time 🙂 I make effort to make her play and like parks . 🙂
So agree with you. We, as parents, need to introduce books as a fun and entertaining concept to the kids who’ll most likely lap them up. Especially in this age where there are so many lovely books available. I am so glad that R loves books and he is not yet introduced to angry birds and the likes…and I hope to keep his interest alive.
I love both the pics.. Wonderful tips 🙂
I’ve tried quite a few with Lil p too.
I loved the first pic when I saw it at FB. Well I know what to pick for little beeeg boy O when I come by. Love
A post after my own heart, Monika! I share your belief that there’s no better inheritance we can leave them than a love for books. Got one of mine hooked, and the smaller one’s getting there. Loved the pix of lil O with his big books!
I was nodding through this post…right from the start to the end.:) I have pictures of my girls like the one of O’s too. Its heartening to see,the older one reading to her sister,at quiet time!
the first thing we bought our kid was also a fabric book 🙂
I just smiled and smiled when I saw the pics…
my daughter is 21 months old ….and i think she likes books….likes being read out to.
am keeping my fingers crossed the habit stays…both me and the hubby are avid readers.
thanks for the pointers.
Very good tips on developing good reading habits in children, if the child discovers fantasy world in words and phrases, he will always be curious to read more….
Lovely pictures. You’re right about the hard work. Most good habits need hard work. However kids do have a way of striking out on their own, sometimes. I’ve got twins and while one took to books the other is so not into them. I’ve had to accpet both happily.
Totally with you on this…today Arnav has a marvellous collection of books and you can see him picking the books and saying, Mumma book padhao!!!
It is a habit which gives you so much and shud really be passed onto generations!
Nothing can be as satisfying and as self-engaging as reading. A head-start in this matter is a good thing!:)
If you can instill a habit of reading books into your child, you have done them a lifetime favor. Readers will be better at school and more well spoken.
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that 5 month pic just made me go awww.. 🙂 he is a sweetheart!
Thank you 🙂
A lot of lovely pointers. Maybe useful for me some day. Soon. 🙂
i hear you Monika. I kept nodding as i read.
It was my biggest secret desire to see my child develop that love for reading. And so far so good 🙂 I am secretely pleased and thankful everytime Prisha picks up a book and reads it even if she doesnt really know any word in there. She loves to get books as gifts and wants read them right away.
Agree with all of it!! I also want to pass on just this one thing of reading and loving to read. I started reading to N from when he was a day old. And that is one habit we have continued till now. We read every night and so far it is me or my husband reading to him but I hope soon he starts reading on his own too. And yes it is tough to inculcate the habit so good job Monika!! 🙂
One of your best write ups…all the best!
Loved this post Monika, I’ve been lucky in this regard too :). D picked up the habit early, and thankfully S copies her for everything ;).
Its great to know how much Ojas is into reading…otherwise for kids nowadays its just TV, video and even internet!