Below post had win Disney School Skills workbooks organized by Parenthots . Read our 18 ways to encourage your children to read article and read here what been published in Parenthots website. Yippie!!! Another new book collection for Amirul and Widad.
Photo: ooh_food
If average per person in Malaysia reads only 2 books in a year, you should be worried. We have low statistic for reading, low enough to make our people rethinking about living in a high performance culture.
But, if you want to do something different, here’s what can you can do: teach and nurture your children love to read.
1. Turn reading into habits
Involve your children with activities that require book or reading materials. Practice everyday, make sure it becomes part of their life.
2. Be extremely excited when there’s a book fair
Tell them news about book event, like bookfair that’s happening every year, somewhere in April. And don’t get too excited when you received SMS about J Card Day announcement, that prove no evidence on improving your children reading level.
3. Cut off Astro subscription
I will guarantee, no one will ever do this. But I would place my bet, if you cut off your Astro subscription or any other services, that turn you and your family into a lazy potato couch, then it will improve your children behavior.
One morning, I had tried not to turn on the TV for my children. Guess what? At first, they yelled at me (of course, they got pinched, what to expect? I am a strict father who doesn’t go soft with his children), then they started to play their own toys. They even reach out from cabinet — a book.
Everything changed after that. They don’t even bother to turn on the TV when they are in the living room. They weren’t attached to the buzz of the TV anymore. Freedom. They have their toys, book, and they have each other.
I’m not a regular TV watcher for four years now.
4. Go to Zoo with animal book
The first visit to Zoo Negara with my son, I bought book about wildlife animals. So when we meet Orang Utan, Rhinosaurus, or giraffe, or even elephant, I would simply match them with animals in the book.
What came after was, the enthusiasm of constantly showing me, in the book, the animals that he had seen. In our house, he will keep the book on his side. He keep bragging about how big the elephant was, compared with inside the book.
5. Buy ipod, buy interactive book apps only
Another method to encourage them to read is to bring technology closer to them. Gadget like iPod is a good example. Xxx is the website focus on education with iPod. It gave a lot of recommendation and advice on how to fuel up your children education using efficient device like iPod and iPhone.
6. Turn off TV on prime time.
Turn off TV around 8 pm and let you and the books accompany your children. Give attention to them at least 30-60 minutes to teach them to read. Let’s forget about news and everything. The world isn’t going to end if you don’t the news.
7. Buy iPad, buy book-interactive apps
There are lot of book-interactive apps for children. Most of the awesome apps are as cheap as USD 0.99 — it’s about, rounded figures of RM 3.50.
Some say, if we embrace the technology, we have advantage over other competitors (well, consider other set of families are your competitors). This is the attacking device that should catapult the children education miles away.
Visit the iPad education apps review : IEAR.org
Bonus link: Amazingly Educational iPad Apps for Kids
8. Eat Book, Sleep Book, Drink Book
Change the rules of your family: bring book everywhere you go, from every corner of the house to every places of interest you visit. Turn the reading habit into everyday routines, like eat book, sleep book, drink book.
9. Book, book, book
Buy books, or something that indirectly contribute into reading a book. For a start, try buy books just for collection. Then buy book rack, then another large book rack. Then buy not only the book rack, buy something that can bring more books into the house. Then you realize your house is surrounded by books. From that you can grow interest of reading books among your children — with the help of book-friendly environment.
10. Birthday gift is a book
I can imagine how large the curve of my children’ frown would be if I buy them only books for their birthdays. Ok, every year, I will buy two special gifts: one is the book for compulsory gift, and another one is the not-a-book gift.
The reason I buy a book for their birthday every year because I want them to love books, and I want them to have books on their special day.
11. Buy them cheap book, at least one, when buy groceries
When they follow you to a market like Tesco or Carrefour, you should spend one book for them. Then ask them to read in front of you. Don’t concern too much about the groceries, there’s an important habit you need to seed inside your children mind.
12. Book is the new toy
Whenever you buy a new toy, you should prefer books over remote control car or Play-Doh . I know that your kids’ life will be like mine: books are the only things that my parent considered. If a toy can’t be a tool for building my cleverness, then my father would not buy it. Ever.
13. You, yourself, should read everyday to build positive subconscious inside of you
If the parent don’t even have an atom of interest of reading, then don’t blame your children who hate reading so much, and prefer playing Angry Bird to fill the time.
Remember the phrase “bapak borek anak rintik”. My opinion is that, you should increase your reading frequency that can build the habit from inside .
And your children will follow.
14. Read with/to your children
This point is very common. I have seen in many websites that your can set up routine, where you read to and with your children, 30 minute before you going to sleep. Nevertheless, this is one of the important steps to encourage the reading habit.
15. Write A Book
Tired of stories that doesn’t follow your own interest. My suggestion is to draw and write your own story, make your own children heroes, and have fun with them while you guy making progress to complete the book.
16. Ask them to read signboard or billboard
While travelling the long and winding road, ask your children every signboard or billboard. Reward them. Reward them again, if they write journal about what they have observed during the trip.
17. Put an inception that reading is like just like breathing.
Always inject with the ideas that only people who loves reading can be successful. Say to them, reading books is just as important as breathing the air. Reading can light up our future, a path to glorious victory.
18. Go to library, instead of Sunway Pyramid.
Why not make a regular visit to library, rather than go to shopping mall. Yes, there are lot of book store that offers reading experience such as MPH, Kinokuniya, dan Popular. Our national library offers an expansion of books to read for hours. Plus, the people behavior around you makes you feel you need to improve your reading routine.
Conclusion
It is our efforts to build our next generation who appreciate reading and know how important it is to build a knowledgeable society. May be my suggestions above will encourage our children to read.
Let’s hope that our government campaign be materialized with our efforts.
If average per person in Malaysia read x pages in a year, you should be worried. We have low statistic for reading, low enough to make our people — Malaysian citizen — doesn’t care about living in high performance culture,
And there’s nothing we can do about it. But, if you want to something different, here’s what can you can do: teach and nurture your children love to read.
1. Turn reading into Habits.
Involve your children with activities that require book or reading materials. Practice everyday, make sure it becomes part of their life.
2. Be extremely excited when there’s book fair , instead of J Card day.
Tell them news about book event, like bookfair that’s happening every year, somewhere in April. And don’t get too excited when you received SMS about J Card Day announcement, that prove no evidence on improving your children reading level.
3. Cut off Astro subscription
I will guarantee, no one will ever do this. But I would place my bet, if you cut off your Astro subscription, or any other services that turn you and your family into a lazy potato couch, it will improve your children behavior.
One morning, I had tried not to turn on the TV for my children. Guess what? At first, they yelled at me (of course, they got pinched, what to expect? I am a fierce father who doesn’t go soft with his children), then they started to play their own toys. They even reach out from closet (almari), a book.
Every changed after that. They don’t even bother to turn on the TV when they are in the living room. They have their toys, book, and they have each other.
I’m not a regular TV watcher for four years now.
4. Go to Zoo with animal book
The first visit to Zoo Negara, I bought book about wildlife animals. So when they meet Orang Utan, Rhinosaurus, or giraffe, or even elephant, I would simply match them with animals in the book.
What came after was the enthusiasm of constantly showing me, in the book, the animals that they have visited. In our house, they will keep their book beside them. They keep bragging about how big the elephant was, compared with inside the book.
5. Go to aquaria with marine life book
6. Buy ipod, buy interactive book apps only
Another method to encourage them to read is to bring technology closer to them. Gadget like iPod is a good example. Xxx is the website focus on education with iPod. It gave a lot of recommendation and advice on how to fuel up your children education using efficient device like iPod and iPhone.
7. Turn off TV on prime time.
Turn off TV around 8 pm and books accompany hour children. Give attention to them at least 30-60 minutes to teach them to read. Let’s forget about news and everything. The world isn’t going to end if you don’t the news.
8. Buy iPad, buy book-interactive apps
There are lot of book-interactive apps for children. Most of the awesome apps are as cheap as USD 0.99 — it’s about, rounded figures of RM 3.50.
Some say, if the embrace the technology, we have advantage over other competitors (well, consider other set of families are your competitors). This is the device that should catapult the children education miles away.
Visit the iPad education apps review :
9. Eat Book, Sleep Book, Drink Book
Change the rules of your family that you have to bring book everywhere you go, from every corner of the house to every places of interest you visit. Turn the reading into everyday routines, like eat book, sleep book, drink book.
10. Book, book, book
Buy books, or something that indirectly contribute into reading a book. For a start, try buy books just for collection. Then buy book rack, then another large book rack. Then buy not only the book rack, buy something that can bring more books into the house. Then you realize your house is surrounded by books. From that you can grow interest of reading books among your children.
11. Birthday gift is a book
I can imagine how large the curve of my children’ frown would be if I buy them only books for their birthday. Ok, every year, I will buy two special gifts: one is book for compulsory gift, and another one is not-a-book gift. The reason I buy a book for their birthday every year because I want them to love books, and I want them to have on their special day.
12. Buy them cheap book, at least one, when buy groceries
When they follow you to a market like Tesco or Carrefour, you should spend, at least, one book for them. Then ask them to read in front of you. Don’t concern too much about the groceries, there’s an important habit you need to seed inside your children mind.
13. Book is the new toy
Whenever you buy a new toy, you should prefer books to your children. I know that your kids will be like me, when I was kid; boring and predictable
14. You, yourself, should read everyday to build positive subconscious inside of you
If the parent don’t even an atom of interest of reading, then don’t blame your children who hate reading so much, and prefer playing Angry Bird to fill the time.
Remember the word “bapak borek anak rintik”. My opinion is that, you should increase your reading frequency and build the habit from inside .
And your children will follow.
15. Read with/to your children
This point is very common. I have seen in many websites that your can set up routine where you read to and with your children, 30 minute before you going to sleep. Nevertheless, this is one of the important steps to encourage the reading habit.
16. Write A Book
Tired of stories that doesn’t follow your own interest. My suggestion is to draw and write your own story, make your own children heroes
17. Ask them to read signboard or billboard
While travelling the long and winding road, ask your children every signboard or billboard. Reward them. Reward them again, if they write journal about what they have observed during the trip.
18. Buy them into a notion of, the importance of reading is like just like breathing.
Always inject with the ideas that only people who loves reading can be successful. Say to them reading books is just as important as breathing the air. Reading can light up our future, a path to glorious victory.
19. Go to library, instead of Sunway Pyramid.
Why not make a regular visit to library, rather than go to shopping mall. Yes, there are lot of book store that offers reading experience such as MPH, Kinokuniya, dan Popular. But our national library [link] offers an expansion of books to read for hours. Plus, the people behavior around you makes you feel you need to improve your reading routine.
Conclusion
It is our efforts to build our next generation who appreciate reading and know how important it is to build a knowledgeable society. May be my suggestions above will encourage our children to read.
Let’s hope that our government campaign be materialized with our efforts
