Today's children are hit with information overload right from the start. With television and internet being a part of every household, there is little scope to do the things that kept children occupied in previous decades - reading or playing on their own or with friends for example. Still, reading develops a number of skills in children that are highly desirable, and will carry them forward through their lives. Concentration, vocabulary, knowledge of life and imagination are the most important of these. How, then, can a parent introduce a child to books from an early age, without succumbing to the lures of the colorful, vibrant screens? 1.Read while you are pregnant. For people who believe in suggestions during pregnancy, I would suggest reading to your child even while in utero. 2.Show your child that you read. Get your child used to the image of a parent holding a book, long before he/she begins to understand what the book is, let alone what the parent is doing with it. 3.Read to your newborn. If you read while breastfeeding, read aloud - even if the book is meant for grown-ups. The simple act of reading aloud becomes a ritual in this way - one that the child grows up with. 4.When the child can understand words... it is time to read to the child instead of just reading about in his/her presence. Start with books that will not be easily torn or broken - hard cardboard works well. If you are not satisfied with the content or quality of the books you buy, you can even commission older children to draw pictures for a storyline you write. 5.Use flash cards. Most adults read by recognizing the shapes of words, rather than spelling out individual letters. Using flash cards, you can get your child to do this from an early age. It also forms an attractive game to keep him/her busy and comparitively quiet for some time. 6.Pick books that you can agree with. Keep a watchful eye on the messages being conveyed by the books your children read. Today, more and more children's books are including people of all sizes, colors and shapes - trying to destroy the culture of white, hourglass-figured barbie. Though reading, writing and speaking use different parts of the brain, all these are equally essential for developing a good vocabulary. Therefore, encourage your child to speak about what he/she has read, and to draw imaginary situations from the books recently read. A child who can express what he/she is feeling - in words or images - is always better equipped to handle social situations, academic scenarios and life in general. Speaking also forces the child to use the information gleaned from reading. Asking the child about the books s/he has read will also help the parents keep track of learning progress, and can also detect any learning disorders at the earliest stages. Quite obviously, this also promotes parent-child interaction.
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