Introduction
There is only one way to increase the awareness and
IQ level in children. This way was found long time back. It is nothing but
reading. The children should not be reading the book just for doing the
assignments. Instead, they should love and enjoy reading the books. Most
parents buy board exam books in the hope that their wards would read all of them.
That is not always the case. A study has proved that wards with reading skills have the ability to clear the exams with ease and move forward in life. As the days progress in children's life, only two
percent of them still harbour the love to read books that are at advanced
level.
Early Inculcation
The habit of reading never really gets ingrained in
childhood as there are plenty of opportunities for the children to get
distracted. Your kids love shuffling through pages in books as toddlers,
looking at the pictures. They may even enjoy reading as elementary school-going
children. Life offers so many other ways to entertain themselves that
reading may become more like work than play. They never get to that
delicious place where reading a book is more fun than almost anything. Hence,
we need to inculcate this habit with great labour in our children early in
their lives. Otherwise, they may not develop serious reading habit in their
lives.
- Read to your child from the earliest age: Every child would listen to story at the bed time. Just read to them story books and effectively narrate the stories to them. You can always hold back the information and tell them to read the books to get more information. Buy board books and cloth books as some of your child's first toys. Carry them around with snacks in the diaper bag. Whenever you get some break, grab a book and read to your child and help him to understand the story from the books.
- Begin visiting the library regularly: Some children get fascinated by seeing others reading books. Hence, you can try visiting the library regularly with your child. You can use the time in the library to read and narrate stories and select books for him. My kids would never sit still at library "story times," but if your child likes them, by all means go. Keep library books on a separate shelf in the living room or kitchen so you don't lose them, and so you can always easily find something new to read.
- Read to your child as often as possible: You should be trying to read out stories and simplify the situations in them whenever possible. One such time when you can try is to make them sit before the food. Listening to the reading is just like listening to a radio. When they listen, they can look at the food and savour its taste while chewing and listening. Occasionally, you can show the pictures depicted in the story books to them. This would make them listen and hold them to a place.
- Don't push your child to learn to read: Don’t force your child to learn reading. If he gets interested in knowing more things, he will try to learn reading naturally once after getting the preliminary skills. Your goal is not to help him sound out words. Instead, you are expected to instil a love for book. Teaching him to read will take all the fun out of reading.
- Don't stop reading to him once he learns to read: Read to him every step of the way until he does not object your reading to him. Continuing to read to him will keep him interested as his skills develop. While reading out stories to children, they are expected to ask questions. This would give you the fodder for you to have an opportunity to open up a friendly discussion with them about values they have learned and choices they have come across.
