Do you read books to your kids? If no, please start reading. If yes, you are doing very great job. I also don't read much to my kids. But I try to keep them busy with books. I get lot of books from the library. You can find books everywhere in my house. In my house, my father-in-law is a great reader. After his retirement, he spends most of his time in reading the books. So, my husband is also a great reader and reads books very fast. Both have different interests, but they share their thoughts.
I am not a great reader as I read very slow and mostly, I return the books without finishing them. Mostly, I borrow the books from the library. As I know, if I will buy the book, it will get buried somewhere in my house. But, still, I try to read books on various topics and also I want my kids to read. For me, books are great sources of learning anything in the world. Reading is the habit which must be cultivated in the kids as soon as possible.
Recently I read a book about reading to kids -
Read to me: Raising kids who love to Read. And I found this book excellent and very much useful for the parents. This book guides us how can we invest our time to teach kids to read.
This book has covered all the kids - infant till 12 year old kids. For every age of kids, there is a separate chapter. In each chapter, author has explained the importance of reading at kids' level, what kids want to know or read, how to get them interest in books appropriate to them. She has also given example of books and also tips for the busy parents. She has also given the ideas for the activities the parents can do with their kids to encourage more reading.
After reading this book, I realized that reading is fun. You don't need to read boring books you are not interested in. Reading is a very good habit which can help you in many ways. Here are some excerpts from the book -
"Reading makes a difference in unexpected parts of our lives. We can use books to reassure a child who faces something that frightens him. One of my friends had to have tubes put in her son, Tommy's, ears as the result of repeated ear infections. Fear of the unknown made Tommy especially tense and uncooperative. After reading a story several times about Coco Bear who had tubes put in his ears, Tommy faced the simple procedure bravely."
"Reading aloud to your child opens doors to worlds unknown. You open doors for your children by teaching them about their world. You can go to places you could never go in real life through books you read together. You also open doors for children by sharing the values - honesty, loyalty, courage - conveyed in books. But the most important value, that of reading itself, helps to make us human by allowing us to see the world from inside the skin of another person."
"Reading aloud to your child is the single most important thing you can do to make him a reader."
"Telling a story from the pictures is an important step in the learning-to-read process."
"Pretend reading is a critical step in the developmental process of learning to read."
"Talking develops language. Talk to your child and get her to talk about things you do together and things she does with friends."
"Children follow their parent's example. If they see you relax in front of television, they will, too. If they see you read, they will, too."
"Praise works better than punishment; accentuate the positive things your child does. It helps build self-confidence, which leads to more success."
"Ten minutes of freely chosen reading at home makes a big improvement in a child's performance on reading tests at school."
Breakfast & meal time is my favorite time, when I spend with my son reading the books. He doesn't want to sit on the table to eat food, he just wants to play with his cars. But when I tell him to get his favorite book and sit to read, he listens to me. This way, he eats the food and also we read the book together. I get lot of new books from the library and he is always interested in reading new books.
