Haruka does not read yet. But, I love to see these photos of her looking and playing with her books. I will see Haruka and Tomomi in a weeks time as they join me in London and I miss the moments when Haruka comes to me with her books. She does not say anything as she does not know how to utter any words, but she often brings a book to me and I would then put her on my lap and read to her. The difference between daddy and mummy in reading style is that I would add a lot of sound effects to the reading, while mummy would just do them in full Japanese sentences. I have noticed both way works, as Haruka would also go to mummy for reading when daddy turns her down ... ok, I try to oblige most of the time. Once again, an acronym to make the Reading tip easy to remember, be Readers yourself, make it Enjoyable, make books Available, Display books with pride.
Children do what they see. At a young age, parents are the best role models. If parents are keen readers, children will learn to be the same as they are curious to discover what are in books. Tomomi is an avid reader and she would regularly go to a second hand book store in Tokyo or buy books online. I on the other hand, read less and would just browse books whenever I happen to be in a bookshop (probably once a month or less), get them for free from seminars or when I see them lying around. I do speed reading and if an idea interest me, I would then delve into it more. I spend more time surfing online for news, google whenever I think of an idea to understand that idea better from different sources and prefer writing to reading to get me thinking and researching about ideas and topics. I noticed that Haruka spots that I use the laptop more often than I read, which may not be good for her. As Tomomi is not working, Haruka would spot her reading more. Its hard to start the habit of reading as I spent quite a lot of my free time on the laptop doing freelance research or to take the family out, but I suspect I would have more free time after I leave Japan for good. Haruka is growing and is becoming a better observer and its important for her to see me reading more, so she would grab her books more than she reaches for my laptop. Though, one thing in the right direction is me making reading enjoyable to her. Whenever we read the animal book, I would create stories with animal sounds and this makes better sense to her than just plain reading. When the story books show children raising their hands, I do the same and she is learning to follow me. Nowadays, when we flip the pages, she would remember the sounds and do them before me. Of course, I would need to progres
s to more complete sentences, but I strongly believe that communication needs to be understood to make them meaningful. We have got many baby books as gifts or pass me downs and just leave them in our room for Haruka to play them. It sometimes pains me to see the colourful pop up origami books being destroyed by Haruka or have the edge of the books being eaten, but I read that its important to make books available and part of the daily environment of the child. After a while, the babies would learn that books are to be appreciated for their pictures and contents, and not for food or playing. Instead of keeping the books locked to prevent them for being spoiled, its better to make them available - a mixture of waterproof plastic, cardboard and paper books. Its fine to have some in the baby's stomach as they do not have such a big appetite for books anyway. Lastly, allow the child to see books displayed nicely. It was difficult in our cramped Tokyo home, but things are starting to change as we move to a bigger place. Alternatively, take the child to children bookshops so they see lots of colourful books displayed nicely. Of course, if its displayed in a special place in the home, it sends the message that the bookshelf is more important than the television set. At some point, the child will learn to have some respect for books instead of using them as sword play.
Children do what they see. At a young age, parents are the best role models. If parents are keen readers, children will learn to be the same as they are curious to discover what are in books. Tomomi is an avid reader and she would regularly go to a second hand book store in Tokyo or buy books online. I on the other hand, read less and would just browse books whenever I happen to be in a bookshop (probably once a month or less), get them for free from seminars or when I see them lying around. I do speed reading and if an idea interest me, I would then delve into it more. I spend more time surfing online for news, google whenever I think of an idea to understand that idea better from different sources and prefer writing to reading to get me thinking and researching about ideas and topics. I noticed that Haruka spots that I use the laptop more often than I read, which may not be good for her. As Tomomi is not working, Haruka would spot her reading more. Its hard to start the habit of reading as I spent quite a lot of my free time on the laptop doing freelance research or to take the family out, but I suspect I would have more free time after I leave Japan for good. Haruka is growing and is becoming a better observer and its important for her to see me reading more, so she would grab her books more than she reaches for my laptop. Though, one thing in the right direction is me making reading enjoyable to her. Whenever we read the animal book, I would create stories with animal sounds and this makes better sense to her than just plain reading. When the story books show children raising their hands, I do the same and she is learning to follow me. Nowadays, when we flip the pages, she would remember the sounds and do them before me. Of course, I would need to progres
s to more complete sentences, but I strongly believe that communication needs to be understood to make them meaningful. We have got many baby books as gifts or pass me downs and just leave them in our room for Haruka to play them. It sometimes pains me to see the colourful pop up origami books being destroyed by Haruka or have the edge of the books being eaten, but I read that its important to make books available and part of the daily environment of the child. After a while, the babies would learn that books are to be appreciated for their pictures and contents, and not for food or playing. Instead of keeping the books locked to prevent them for being spoiled, its better to make them available - a mixture of waterproof plastic, cardboard and paper books. Its fine to have some in the baby's stomach as they do not have such a big appetite for books anyway. Lastly, allow the child to see books displayed nicely. It was difficult in our cramped Tokyo home, but things are starting to change as we move to a bigger place. Alternatively, take the child to children bookshops so they see lots of colourful books displayed nicely. Of course, if its displayed in a special place in the home, it sends the message that the bookshelf is more important than the television set. At some point, the child will learn to have some respect for books instead of using them as sword play.Any other reading tips? Do you see reading as an important habit to cultivate?
(Photos show 10 month old Haruka saying, Please do not distract me while reading.)
2 comments :
I read a lot myself, read to my children and buy a lot of books - all types - 2nd hand or new.
It is crucial for parents to instill a love of reading early in a child's life. My kids are 5 and 7 and they love to read. In fact, they would rather read a book than watch TV or play with their toys.
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