I was a voracious reader when in school and college. 4 to 5 books a week was a norm. So can't really blame me for being a little over-enthusiastic about getting Anoushka to read. By the beginning of this academic year, Anoushka's text books already had small sentences in it. I thought, getting her to read small story books would help her get a better grasp of the language and the ability discern words or work around pronouncing it.
And so I made it a point to pull out small books from her collection and get her to start reading. She found it fun initially, but a day or so later began to whine about not wanting to read. Anoushka also has this thing of being very uncooperative when she doesn't want to do something. There are times when she would pronounce the word perfectly - in phonetics and then refuse to put it together.
I stubbornly plodded on (even on hindsight, I am using the word stubborn, because that was what it was) and made her sit down each day to read. I had a feeling that perhaps if she would just try a bit harder, she would be able to read decently and perhaps even develop an interest in it. But, nothing of the sort happened. There were tears and howls and a lot more.
Then... one day, I was at ballet class and while chatting with the other mums there, I heard about how each one of them went through a similar phase with their little ones. All of them told me the same thing - till the age of 6 or 6.5 none of their kids were interested in looking at a book, but miraculously past that age they all took to reading. What each of the mothers never gave up on though - was taking time out to reading the children everyday.
I went home with a new realization that day and decided to use some reverse psychology. That evening, at our usual reading time, I pulled out an Enid Blyton, settled her next to me, opened the book and began reading to her. She had this look of shock on her face and stopped me at once asking me why she was not being told to read. I told her that she had tried enough all these days and that I would rather she enjoy the story than cry through it. That's why I was reading to her.
She looked her happiest that day. The next day I did the same with another book, and half way through the story, Anoushka asked me if she could read alternate lines. I told her to go right ahead. We then progressed to her reading a page and then me a page. We also have some books that have text and then picture with conversation bubbles. She reads the bubbles while I do the text.
Today when we watch serials on TV and the English sub titles are on, we play this game where I tell her to read any and as many words as she can when the text is scrolling. I have found it helps with her speed in recognizing words. Today, she pulls books out on her own, attempts newspaper headlines and reads untaught lessons from a school book.
As for stubborn me - mission accomplished!! Though a lesson I did learn was that sometimes you need to take a step back and see whether the approach is right or not. In my case it was not, and I found another way of getting through to my baby.
And so I made it a point to pull out small books from her collection and get her to start reading. She found it fun initially, but a day or so later began to whine about not wanting to read. Anoushka also has this thing of being very uncooperative when she doesn't want to do something. There are times when she would pronounce the word perfectly - in phonetics and then refuse to put it together.
I stubbornly plodded on (even on hindsight, I am using the word stubborn, because that was what it was) and made her sit down each day to read. I had a feeling that perhaps if she would just try a bit harder, she would be able to read decently and perhaps even develop an interest in it. But, nothing of the sort happened. There were tears and howls and a lot more.
Then... one day, I was at ballet class and while chatting with the other mums there, I heard about how each one of them went through a similar phase with their little ones. All of them told me the same thing - till the age of 6 or 6.5 none of their kids were interested in looking at a book, but miraculously past that age they all took to reading. What each of the mothers never gave up on though - was taking time out to reading the children everyday.
I went home with a new realization that day and decided to use some reverse psychology. That evening, at our usual reading time, I pulled out an Enid Blyton, settled her next to me, opened the book and began reading to her. She had this look of shock on her face and stopped me at once asking me why she was not being told to read. I told her that she had tried enough all these days and that I would rather she enjoy the story than cry through it. That's why I was reading to her.
She looked her happiest that day. The next day I did the same with another book, and half way through the story, Anoushka asked me if she could read alternate lines. I told her to go right ahead. We then progressed to her reading a page and then me a page. We also have some books that have text and then picture with conversation bubbles. She reads the bubbles while I do the text.
Today when we watch serials on TV and the English sub titles are on, we play this game where I tell her to read any and as many words as she can when the text is scrolling. I have found it helps with her speed in recognizing words. Today, she pulls books out on her own, attempts newspaper headlines and reads untaught lessons from a school book.
As for stubborn me - mission accomplished!! Though a lesson I did learn was that sometimes you need to take a step back and see whether the approach is right or not. In my case it was not, and I found another way of getting through to my baby.
Reading her clues from the Easter Egg hunt I organized for her earlier this year
Ballet class can be fount of wisdom isn't it ;).. This was a good strategy all right Ruth, thanks so much for sharing.. In fact I had a recent discussion with another mom and I am going to send this to her to read.
ReplyDeleteI did have a similar experience with my younger one, who I found did not take to reading as easily as my daughter. He did it at his own pace, but sits down equally happily with a book now alongside his sister, so I'm a happy trooper :).
Oh tell me about it..I am struggling here to get my 4.7 year old to get a hang of reading even though she gets the phonetics right. I am taking it slow for now, but just dont want her to lag behind. I am going to be trying your tip from here on. Thanks for sharing..:)
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