Instil Reading Habit From Young

Here come's a post from Malaysia. Courtesy : The Star


Instilling a love for books in children can be a mammoth task as much depends on how a child perceives reading.

Lorna Whiston Study Centre director Lorna Whiston said: “A child who is forced to read many textbooks in order to excel at school may quickly lose interest in reading.

“If a child is forced, at a young age, to read difficult books that are beyond his capability, then he may feel little sense of achievement and may never want to read further.

“If reading is to be fun, there should be new stories for the child to choose from and the freedom to choose whatever he wants to read,” said Whiston.

To motivate children to pick up the reading habit, the study centre has come up with various exciting English Language enrichment programmessuch as Book Week for its students.

As part of Book Week, the children were taken to the Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) Library in Kuala Lumpur, where they were introduced to the books in the Early Readers section.

The children then enjoyed interactive storytelling sessions and played story-related language games organised by their teachers.

They were also taught how to take care of their books.

In another event, the children, aged between four and six, came to school dressed as their favourite book character.

They then shared excerpts from their favourite books with their classmates and teachers. Taking on the role of some of their best-loved story characters, they had fun re-telling their stories.

“Children who are encouraged to read from young are more likely to develop a lifelong love of books. When children read, their creativity is stimulated, their language skills are extended and they increase their knowledge on a variety of subjects.

“Pupils who enjoy reading also tend to do better at school,” said Whiston.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2005/10/9/education

And as usual a couple of quotes:

It's not what is poured into a student that counts, but what is planted.

An educational system isn't worth a great deal if it teaches young people how to make a living but doesn't teach them how to make a life.

The mind is like a stomach. It's not how much you put into it that counts, but how much it digests.