Daily Times

Not very long ago there were children who used to visit fairyland, prince and princess, the good and the bad Ginny. They visited the entire garden, ate sweet magical fruits and played with talking horse. The bedtime was the time for such adventures.

But then everybody got busy in a time race, too many channel surfing and too many gadgets. The fantasyland got lot in the aloofness of lives. That was the time when before cuddling into bed grandparents (in my case my father) used to tell the stories to children, which took them to fantasy world. Such narrations not only enhance the imagination, it adds to vocabulary, problem solving skills and many moral values.

One of the best contributions to child’s upbringing is inculcating book-reading habit in them.

Here are few tips formed by experts to encourage reading habits among children of all age groups. This will help not only in creative writing but also supports subject comprehension skills. Even in mental maths, the kid needs to imagine the situation and figure out the answer.

Reading to kids is one good idea but even better than that is to make the child read it to you, help in reading and making out right words. Although this activity requires a lot of patience but it nurtures an independent reader. Take them with you to select books when they choose it themselves then they have a sense of ownership too.

Showing them movies based on epic stories and novels, watching them together is a very under rated activity. Actually it is as good as reading the book, as it adds to visionary imagination and cultivates ideas.

After reading the storybook, encourage them to draw pictures related to story, write about the favourite character.

This will not take much time; it’s just a matter of planning and giving importance. Maintaining at least twice a day reading activity will boost the relationship not only between the child and book, but the parent-child relationship too.

Movies like James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Great Expectations, Julius Caesar and many more classics are still a cherishing experience.

Gadgets cannot replace the creativity zone. Sitting and reading a book boosts the focus and memory retaining power. Most of the parents complain about hyper activity in kids or even mild ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) issues. As per psychologists, giving a quieter place to focus, relaxation activity and completing chores helps them a lot. Too much sugar and too much TV or video games is a recipe for disaster. Now what else can be more relaxing, task completion oriented and soothing than a book reading activity together?

Give children the freedom to choose what they would want to read. The main goal is to let them enjoy reading. In the process of coordinating reading books and creative writing programme for junior school kids, here are few tips that I found to be very significant:

Set aside a regular time to read to your children or they read to you. For the young ones, glide your finger under the words of story as it helps them to read.

Ask questions related to story it helps them to comprehend better.

Organise a small book corner, which the child should be able to relate.

Children who think reading is boring can hardly become fond readers. So add reward incentives to it.

Don’t deprive your child there is a whole world ahead waiting, just go and grab the book tonight with him/her. As a book is a gift you can open again and again.

The writer is a children’s right activist and a former educationist