Many of us know that we should read aloud to our sons and daughters at an early age, because, understandably, anything that starts at an early age comes naturally later in life, and we all want our kids to grow up to enjoy reading, right? But just how early should this early be? I've heard of parents reading to their babies even before they were born. If we don't do that, are we going to miss the critical moment to establish a life long passion for books?
When my son was around 10 months, I started to read aloud to him. Yes, I started when he was already 10 months old! Of course I had on and off read to him before that, but I was serious about it this time. And he would love it right away, because both parents read a lot, the passion is in his genes. And, he would love sitting on mommy's lap and we'd have such quality time together. AND, I was seriously disappointed!!! It was around the same time that my son discovered the simple joy of independence - he finally mastered crawling! So, the rest of the story you could guess. I could not have him stay still for a couple of seconds. As all new parents would do, I blamed myself for not doing it earlier: "Had we established an routine earlier, things would have been a lot easier. Now I've missed the critical moment! What should I do?"
Anyone who reads this far is probably shaking his or her head and laughing now. My son was only 10 months old, yet I've sentenced him for life. A few days later, I finally realized how ridiculous it was. I was laughing my head off. I continued to try and get his attention to the books that I read, but I stopped being dramatic about my failed attempts.
Another couple of months later, my in-laws came to visit. One night, Grandpa picked up one of the most boring books out there and started to read. The book he picked was Baby's First Animals. It has just a picture of an animal per page, with its name spelled out at the bottom. But Grandpa made a show out of it. "Hey. Here's a big black dog. Ruff ruff. This cute one is a cat. Meow! Whoa! Here's a lion. Roar! ......"
The book was read a few times that night at my son's request, and many many times in the days to follow. Finally, in addition to mama and baba ("papa" in Chinese), my son added some new words to his vocabulary. Better yet, he started to show interest in the books we put in front of him. For me, I saw what I was doing wrong. It's not about when to start or what to read. It's about why we read. I want my son to enjoy reading because I enjoy it. I never thought about why? Why a baby who was setting out to explore the wild world should choose some static pictures and monotone mumbling over, say, the outlet on the wall that he was not allowed to touch? Or the colorful ball that bangs and rolls and he could never catch? Because, reading is FUN. If it is not, we are not doing it right.
From then on, our reading became such an enjoyable moment. We sang and danced, and sometimes even made up songs with silly tunes; we learned about the Moo's, the Oink's, and the Cock-a-doodle-doo's......
Reading is fun and fun is good!
When my son was around 10 months, I started to read aloud to him. Yes, I started when he was already 10 months old! Of course I had on and off read to him before that, but I was serious about it this time. And he would love it right away, because both parents read a lot, the passion is in his genes. And, he would love sitting on mommy's lap and we'd have such quality time together. AND, I was seriously disappointed!!! It was around the same time that my son discovered the simple joy of independence - he finally mastered crawling! So, the rest of the story you could guess. I could not have him stay still for a couple of seconds. As all new parents would do, I blamed myself for not doing it earlier: "Had we established an routine earlier, things would have been a lot easier. Now I've missed the critical moment! What should I do?"
Anyone who reads this far is probably shaking his or her head and laughing now. My son was only 10 months old, yet I've sentenced him for life. A few days later, I finally realized how ridiculous it was. I was laughing my head off. I continued to try and get his attention to the books that I read, but I stopped being dramatic about my failed attempts.
Another couple of months later, my in-laws came to visit. One night, Grandpa picked up one of the most boring books out there and started to read. The book he picked was Baby's First Animals. It has just a picture of an animal per page, with its name spelled out at the bottom. But Grandpa made a show out of it. "Hey. Here's a big black dog. Ruff ruff. This cute one is a cat. Meow! Whoa! Here's a lion. Roar! ......"
The book was read a few times that night at my son's request, and many many times in the days to follow. Finally, in addition to mama and baba ("papa" in Chinese), my son added some new words to his vocabulary. Better yet, he started to show interest in the books we put in front of him. For me, I saw what I was doing wrong. It's not about when to start or what to read. It's about why we read. I want my son to enjoy reading because I enjoy it. I never thought about why? Why a baby who was setting out to explore the wild world should choose some static pictures and monotone mumbling over, say, the outlet on the wall that he was not allowed to touch? Or the colorful ball that bangs and rolls and he could never catch? Because, reading is FUN. If it is not, we are not doing it right.
From then on, our reading became such an enjoyable moment. We sang and danced, and sometimes even made up songs with silly tunes; we learned about the Moo's, the Oink's, and the Cock-a-doodle-doo's......
Reading is fun and fun is good!
No comments:
Post a Comment