Feb 23 2009
My kids and books
This morning, Ian woke up before sun rise AGAIN! I refused to wake up because I slept at 2am, I was soooooo tired! Soon, I heard Isabel’s voice too…
So, I finally got up to check on them, and this was what I saw:
They were sitting on the staircase and READ BOOKS!
Well, why staircase? I guess they do not want to be away from me (Ian is particularly chicken although maid is downstair)?
I am actually quite happy to see them holding books (than watching TV)! I have been trying very hard to induce reading habit in them. I bought a lot of books for them until I had no place to put. Previously I stored their books in a box, but it was very hard for them to take out.
Since I have a large (and quite empty) bookcase now, I re-organized my bookcase and spare the bottom 2 front shelves for their books:
You will see that many of the books (upper shelf) are not for their age yet. Books like Leven Thumps are for teenagers, some Enid Blyton’s (e.g. Wishing Chair, etc) are for older kids too. I saw them cheap in Manila so couldn’t resist (books are always very cheap in other countries compared to KL!)! Also, Narnia is also too deep for their understanding.
The bottom shelf is more suitable for their age. So effectively they have only 1 shelf full of books. LOL! Anyhow, I do have the tendancy to buy books too deep for my kids. Not that I kiasu, but the subjects catch Ian’s interest better, like Astrology, Maths and Sciences. He doesn’t understand fully, but he is extremely interested and he is trying his best to understand by looking at the pictures and guessing from the words (he can read most but not all yet).
For example, this ‘Body Book’ (as Ian likes to call it), used to be his most favourite book since 2.5 years old:
Of course, he couldn’t read it himself, but he always makes me read to him, and he asks a lot of questions. I don’t mind that, and in fact reading to him I sometimes learn new things too!
Few months ago, Grolier approached his school with the Scholastic booklist. Since this was the first time, I let him choose the books. It is actually quite worthy. On average, each book only costs RM8 or so (but it is still cheaper in Manila – the ‘Body Book’ was only RM6 from Manila!).
He chose some and I chose some. See, these are what he likes:
Not easy! Full with text, but also full with photos. His questions are usually stimulated by the pics and also words that he can’t understand.
I guess he likes these books because they make him think. He can read, digest, ask questions, observe, and come back to read again and again…
For example, one day he looked at the sky and saw a constellation that he could recognize. He was so excited So, he read and read the book again, like trying to squeeze every info into his little brain!
Whilst he always try to get book so deep, I always go with this type for him (to teach him manners, love, friendship, etc):
Unfortunately his interest is not in those books.
As for Isabel, she is slightly slower, she just started on Numbers and Alphabets. But I am not worried. My aim is just for them to like books, not necessarily know how to read. It is the interest that I would like to culture here.
So, parents out there, would you prefer your kids to read? If so, what would you do to help culturing reading habits in your kids? Care to share?
Scholastic always comes out with good books.. during my teaching years, i just love it when they came with new catalogue… very affordable too…
to cultivate the reading habit, all u have to do is lead by example.. u read, they read.. u dun, they won’t.. so simple as that kan?
once u can make reading interesting with different tones and facial expression etc, they will know that by reading, there is a whole new world out there and will look forward to the next reading session..
I adore your book collection! Siggh… New, clean, colourful books make me so happy.
My son isn’t old enough to read yet, but we try to instil that in him. The Enormous Turnip, 3 Billy Goats Gruff, were my favourites as a child, and he’s ALMOST good enough to start telling the stories himself.
Reading is such an important habit to cultivate in our children.
My 15-month-old son LOVES books! Even though he cannot read yet, he loves looking at the pictures and pointing to the words. He would even make noises until you read the words to him.
I have been showing him a DVD program called “Your Baby Can Read”. It supposedly teaches babies as young as 9 months (9 months!) how to read. I don’t know if it’s really true, but at least my son enjoys watching it.
Merryn: Hmm… well said. Lead by example. I agree that is the most important factor. Now I realized his love for looks maybe comes from me. He follows everything I do with my books. Like wrapping books, using bookmarks, reading on my lounger, etc. Isabel not yet. LOL!
Jenny: Ya ya, reading to him is a good start. I used to read a story to them before bed, every night. Only lately I have been too tired to do that, coz they always slip passed their normal bedtime! Should try to bring it earlier, so I could read them story again.
Jane: Wow! Starts from this young?! That is very good. As for DVD, I don’t really like that because I don’t want my kids’ reading time to be replaced by TV. :p