The power of nurturing reading at an early age

Assalamualaikum dear readers.

We know that if we want our children to love books and reading, the skills and interests usually are nurtured when they are still very young like at the age of 1 and 2 years old. Our daily reading with them will gradually help them learn to appreciate books and of course love reading.

Just look at my two nieces here.

I exposed them with books on the first day they're born.

As an aunt who is always preaching to my family about the importance of  reading and encouraging children to read, I have taken the first step in introducing them with books as early as day one they came to this world. Yes, I brought a special book to visit the newborns at the hospital. Try finding, 'We Have A Baby', that's our favourite book.

And, alhamdulillah when I started reading aloud with them they improves a lot since then. The older sister can read at the age of 4 and now she's 6 and she reads books for primary school children sometimes depending on her mood.

The youngest sibling is my nephew who is soon to be 4 years old (the head owner) is not that interested in reading but very much into Blues Clues VCDs.

Her younger sister who is 5 now can read as fast and as good as the older one since a few months ago. And you know what, every afternoon they'll come to my house specifically to the reading nook that I made for them under the stairs to read. I just love seeing them there reading their hearts out.

Such a good feeling for what I've done, alhamdulillah.

Republish: On Reading, Books And Libraries

Libraries and books are undergoing rapid changes. The former are being downsized, some are even being closed; while the latter are predicted to go extinct in the future.

In such a light I thought it might be good to remind ourselves of the power of books, reading and libraries through these inspirational quotations:

On Reading:

“Read in the name of our Lord who created, who taught to write with the pen, who taught man what he knew not” — The Quran (Chapter 96)

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” — Emilie Buchwald

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” — Dr. Seuss, “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!” (1978)

“You may have tangible wealth untold. Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. Richer than I you can never be – I had a mother who read to me.” — Strickland Gillilan

“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” — Margaret Fuller

On Books:

“Just the sight of the book takes away the sadness of the heart.” — Moroccan proverb

“The best conversation companion in our time are books.” — Abu al-Tayib Mutannabi

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”— G. K. Chesterton

“So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall.” — Roald Dahl, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”

“There is no substitute for books in the life of a child.”— May Ellen Chase

“Never judge a book by its movie.” — J. W. Eagan

“A book is the only orchard I have ever seen which can be put in one’s sleeve and the only park which accompanies a man as he goes. The book is the tongue of the dead and the voice of the living. He is an evening visitor who never sleeps until you sleep and never utters a word except what pleases you, never reveals a secret or abuses a deposit. He is the most faithful neighbour, just friend, obedient companion, submissive professor, expert and useful comrade with no desire to argue to or weary of his owner.” — Ibn al-Arabi, Muslim philosopher

“The book is the tongue of the dead and the voice of the living.” — Arabic saying

“Buy books, and write down knowledge, for weather is transitory, but knowledge is lasting.” — Arabic saying.

A reminder of what libraries (local public and school) represent:

“Libraries are time portals. They can take us back into the past and into the future. They can take us to different worlds, worlds we wouldn’t know, people we wouldn’t understand.” — M.T. Anderson

“We’ve got lots of books to open lots of windows that will let you use your imaginations in lots of ways.” — James H. Billington (Librarian of Congress) at the opening of the Young Readers Center, 2009

“The best of my education has come from the public library… my tuition fee is a bus fare and once in a while, five cents a day for an overdue book. You don’t need to know very much to start with, if you know the way to the public library.” — Lesley Conger

“As a child, my number one best friend was the librarian in my grade school. I actually believed all those books belonged to her.” — Erma Bombeck

“The richest person in the world – in fact all the riches in the world – couldn’t provide you with anything like the endless, incredible loot available at your local library.” — Malcolm Forbes

I hope these quotations made you reflect about all that we have been given when it comes to our access to reading material and to value those who teach/support us in reading. And may we think about those who do not have the opportunities and privileges we have.

But more than this I hope you smiled a little, maybe laughed a little too, as reading these quotations made me do

Source: http://muslimkidsbooks.wordpress.com/2010/03/04/on-reading-books-and-libraries/

Entering the story world.

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful).
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

Today I'll be sharing with you about how to entertain your child who will be turning two years old. Now is the right time to introduce stories to her. It's quite an easy task only that you need a lot of patience. Before you took her to the wonderful world of stories, you need to remember a few important things. Let's see...

There are two important things to remember about reading stories.

1. the experience should be enjoyable for your child, and
   
2. the child needs help with her story memory.
   

To ensure enjoyment, don't interrupt stories as you read them. Don't try to explain everything and define words as you go. Children love the flow of it - the modulated storyteller voice, even if they don't understand most of the words. If you're asked to read a favourite story over and over, take advantage of this. Read a story through in a normal way. Then go back and pick out a character or place or event that's important to the story. Turn back to the page where the important character first appears and look at the picture. Talk about what this character looks like, what he's wearing. If it's an animal, tell your child what it is. Talk about where the character is - what place is it? Where did he come from? Why did he go to this place? Where is he going next?

After spending a few minutes on this, read the story again (if it's short) in the usual way. Next time, focus on something else, an event, like why all the puppies fell out of the boat. What made that happen? So on and on.

See, it's not difficult at all to start reading story to your child. You just need 10 to 20 minutes for this. Insya-Allah your child will be looking forward for more reading and stories soon.

Wassalam.

Ref: Growing a Reader from Birth, McGuinsess, D. (2004). London: W. W. Norton & Company.