Encouraging your child to read

Children may be helped or encouraged to enjoy reading given the right incentives and environment…

Unlike watching television or playing games, the enjoyment of books and reading need more cultivation.

Children begin to enjoy stories from an early age. The traditional parenting activity of reading to your child has many benefits including teaching the child the value of books and even busy parents should find the time to do this, if only for 10 or 15 minutes a day.

For younger children, stories should be kept short and simple. Children also enjoy poems and nursery rhymes. For older children stories which have reasonable logical conclusion as well as advocating traditional moral values may be chosen. This may help the child to develop logical thinking. Questions about the story may also be asked of the child to promoting thinking and language comprehension.

When introducing children to books it is usual to start with picture books that children may enjoy looking at with the parent, and also able to enjoy on his own. For children starting to learn the alphabets many colorfully illustrated alphabet-learning books are available which can be enjoyed. Avoid pushing the child to quickly memorize the alphabets. If learning becomes an unpleasant chore the effect on the child may be opposite to the one intended.

Reading is of course a fundamentally important skill. It should be remembered that commencing traditional school work too early may be counter-productive.When choosing a school their young child will start in, parents should choose one that fosters enjoyment of learning rather than one that emphasizes hard work, rapid advance and high scores.

Saowapa Wachirarojpaisan, M.D.
Developmental Pediatrician and Adolescence Medicine

www.samitivejhospitals.com