Rooting down that love learning here, translated…
I’d taught in the elementary schools for over a decade now, and, the school I worked for, put emphasis on reading, and because of this, I’d paid special attention to my own children’s reading habits. As for what books they read, you’d need to, select age-appropriate materials for them then.
Nana is the eldest, toward the arrival of this new life, other than the excitements, there was, also, a lot of anxieties; because I’m a first-time mom, although I’d read a ton of parenting books already, but, until I’d, personally, gotten, on the “battlefields”, I’d become, panicky, stressed out, and any other adjectives along those lines, would best describe my state of being and mind at the time. But, I’d still hoped, that Nana can, read a bit, even if, it was, only, for the slightest amount.
not my photo…
The very first time that Nana encountered a book, it was, a bit after she was, only, a month old, it was, a book without the colorful painting drawings. The contents were, animals, and, on the pages, were the names of the animals in Chinese and English, without the sentences, no dialogues, of course, there was, NO storyline either, the readers of these sorts of books are either parents OR children, and, even IF the parents understood, that at most, these books can only stimulate the visual cortexes of their young, they’d still, worked hard, to make up the stories to tell, hoped, that the child can understand, even, the slightest bit, of course, I am, included, as one of the parents who’d hoped for this achievement.
When Nana was older than one year old, I’d started, giving her the books, to flip through herself, I saw her, flipping the pages over and over again, turning the books upside down, I’d not, stopped her from exploring, because I just wanted her, to “flip” through the books, and not “read” through them yet. There were, picture books, read-alongs, sticker stories, and, pop-up books I’d prepared for her, anything that can, captivate her attention, I’d, handed it to her, to “flip through” and my job was, not to intervene, just, sat close by her, accompanying, and, when she needed help, then, I’d, offered my assistance to her.
and, it only takes, a few minutes from your busy days to do this…not my photograph still…
And now, Nana is four, and my son, almost two, as the two of them are at home, other than playing games together, they’d, read along. My son would hold a book to his older sister, said, “Read! Help!”, and, Nana would, switch from a listener of stories, to a reader for her younger brother. The two of them, seemed to enjoy this, “you tell me a story”, “You be my audience” kind of interactions.
The seeds of love for reading need to be sown down early in life, not for the sake, of helping the children get ahead when they enter school later on in life, because that, is an added advantage, to help children develop a love for reading, that, is the point in giving them books to flip through starting at a young age.
So, this still shows, how important it is, to give your children books to flip through, and reading to them too, because, you’re NOT just reading them those stories written on the page, you’re also, instilling the values that they will need to carry for life too.
Life, the Obstacle Course 