Sparking An Interest For Reading

These days with advanced technology, parents often find it difficult to introduce hardcover books to their children as they might think that getting the child to read from the Ipad or the Kindle is the same thing.

Holding a book physically and reading it virtually are, in fact, two vastly different things. For example, when you show a child a virtual picture of an apple, while they may be able to understand that the picture is that of an apple, they would not be able to feel the texture of the apple and see the different shades of colour of the apple. But when you show them an apple physically, they would be better able to visualise and relate to the apple better. This would also help in terms of their long-term and working memory. The same thing applies for reading. 

When Should You Start Reading To Your Child

You can start as early as during the prenatal period. The baby would be able to hear at the 18th week, which is also the second month of pregnancy. You can sing songs to your baby or even read aloud to them.

Week of pregnancy	Development
4 - 5	Cells in the embryo will start arranging to form into baby’s face, brain, nose, ears and eyes.
9	Indention appears where baby’s ears will grow.
18	Baby starts to hear sounds
24	Baby is more sensitive to sounds
25 - 26	Baby responds to noise or voices in the womb

How Do We Start Off This Reading Process

At a young age, introduce them to nursery rhymes. Nursery rhymes is a simple way to get them interested in music and movements. For example, the nursery rhyme of ‘5 little ducks’. As you sing the song, include some hand movements in order to work on their eye contact and attentional skills as well. Getting your child to participate in the song piques their interest towards the song and makes them want to follow along and learn how to say the words in order to sing the song. Also, vary your tone when singing the song so your child will be able to better understand the different emotions in the song than watching it over the TV or the Ipad. If you start to observe that your child tries to babble or utters jargon utterances, that means you have successfully captured their attention and they are actively trying to imitate you and your actions.

Around the age of 1-2 years old, you can start showing them simple story books with big pictures in order to get their attention. The more colourful the pictures, the better. Lesser words or words of a bigger font size would also help in sustaining their interest in the book. As the difficulty of the book progresses, you are bound to encounter words where your child is unable to read and understand them. When you encounter this scenario, explain the words to them using pictures in order to create a better link between the word and its pectoral vocabulary. This will also create an awareness that the child needs to look at the picture and word and understand what the word is. The child would be able to relate to the word and the picture when they see it in other situations. Slowly but surely, their interest for reading will be sparked.

In conclusion, it is not easy to develop a reading habit. It has to start from the very early stage of a child’s life. Moreover, young children imitate behaviour. If they see the adults around them constantly using their electronic devices, they will want to use it as well as they are curious as to what it actually is. However, if you make it a habit to constantly read to them and encourage them to pick up a book to read instead of giving them a phone or an Ipad to occupy their time. Cultivate a habit and a love for reading is a long and tedious process, but it is definitely possible.

Reference:

1. https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/when-can-a-fetus-hear#1
2. https://news.osu.edu/a-million-word-gap-for-children-who-arent-read-to-at-home/