One of the most valuable things you can give your child is education , and helping him become a reader is a wonderful tool that will educate him without even realizing it.
Reading is exploring, discovering, meditating, feeling, expanding our mind, traveling without leaving home, putting ourselves in the shoes of people we will never be, learning, comparing, thinking, maturing, abstracting and escaping when we need it. It is also cheap and can be done anywhere. It makes us wise, thoughtful, intelligent, confident, curious, and better people. We can’t think of any reason why reading should be negative. On the contrary, it is so positive for the formation of a person that it is very sad that it is not given enough importance, especially with the saturation of “screens” that we suffer.
How do you instill reading in a child?
First reading to him from a very young age . Reading should not always be classified by age because it will depend on the maturity and attention of our child. You can start with plastic books with very simple and striking images and progress as you grow.
The trick? It is in the title of this article: read before bed. And it’s as easy as creating a routine that also relaxes you and leaves you imagining while you fall asleep. When he is very young, the important thing is that he becomes familiar with the object that is the book, turns pages, knows that there is a story inside and handles it at will. Those made of plastic or cloth for babies are designed to be resistant toys to the use of a baby, so do not worry if they bite it.
Already a little older we will be reading small booklets of shapes , colors, adjectives, opposites, with striking textures, shapes and illustrations. He will learn them by heart and one day he will correct you when you change a word … even if he cannot read. There you will realize how attentive he is when you read to him before bed.
And there comes a time when you are curious about the words you see but do not understand, and that will help you in learning to read. With books that tell little stories, you can teach him what the words you see mean.
You will begin to love characters. Luckily there are thousands of book collections with the same protagonist. When he likes one, get him more adventures from him, it is good and healthy that he identifies and knows him. You will feel empathy when you identify with a known protagonist and that is the beginning of a life of reading. There is no turning back.
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When do you have to stop reading?
One last tip: join a library to have an extensive catalog available to fill your nights with fantasy and imagination, as well as saving, of course. Reserve purchases for copies that you want a lot on birthdays, Christmas and special dates.
