5 simple ways to motivate your kids to read| #ModernParentingTips | GetSetParent

0:09 Good afternoon everybody. Today we're going to discuss something which a lot of you might actually relate to. We all dream of bringing up children who are well mannered, who are multi talented, and who grow into voracious readers. Those adults who love reading fiction, nonfiction, a variety of books. Unfortunately, the sad truth is there are thousands and millions of children across the world today who have not found that love in reading.

0:43 So if you are a parent who has a child who's above 6 or 7 years old and have a child who doesn't love reading, this video is exactly for you. One of the things I want to start by saying is that reading is an acquired habit. So in case your children don't love reading right now, you still have a chance to correct that and make them grow into voracious readers. So why is it important for children to love reading?

1:10 We all have heard about the benefits, right? So it improves our attention span, it improves our focus, it improves the kind of sitting capacity that a child has. Better emotional development, and most importantly, as far as parents are concerned, it helps them get better grades in even the other subjects in school. A fast reader is able to pick up concepts quickly and get through the concept or the topic. So today I'm going to share with you 5 tricks to make your child fall in love with reading.

1:45 And I assure you, once you try them, you will find some, some sort of difference as far as reading is concerned in your children. So here goes. Number one, sit and read with your children. Dear parents, there is no shortcut to this. If your child is already a reluctant reader, he or she might want the comfort of having you around them when they read. This can actually also be a lot of fun. One of the tricks that you can use is read alternate pages and the child reads one page.

2:19 Mama or daddy read one page. This has actually dual benefits. A, your child is reading and secondly, when you read alternate pages, the child is very carefully listening to your pronunciation, your enunciation, seeing that you're reading, and is also getting that, you know, comfort that the parent is sitting with them. So sitting and reading with your children is a great first trick to start with. Number two, I would actually suggest creating an ambiance for reading and creating a daily time schedule for reading.

2:56 Much, much like everything else, ambiance creation makes a whole lot of difference. So find them that cozy corner. Bring a nice stash of books, get a nice reading light, make it fun. It could be a nice cozy nook. You could throw a nice quilt down on the floor with a lot of cushions, anything which brings in a little bit of difference in excitement into reading. Right. So also, like I say in a lot of my talks and videos, that children love routine.

3:28 So you could actually slot the time of the day in which reading can be done. It can be done during the afternoons. All of us have all the time right now as far as, you know, our lockdowns are concerned. So it could be a nice slot in the afternoon, a quiet time, or it could be an hour before bed when you are winding down for bedtime. Important is to get an ambiance and to build a time.

3:54 The third trick, and I say this with a lot of belief, that reading should be done for pleasure. So, yes, the classics have to be read. Yes, all the experts have recommended that, you know, the big books have to be read. But if your child doesn't like to read in the first place, there is no way you're going to be able to drag your child to read a classic book or a thick book that he or she doesn't enjoy.

4:19 So try and bring in the fun and make reading pleasure. Let them read comics. There are Amachitra Katharine, available online. There are Tinkles, there are Archies, there's Asterix, there's a variety of comics. Let them read comics. Let, let them flip through magazines. Let them read newspapers. I would also recommend that you take their help when you're cooking something. Let them read out a recipe to you, tell you what are the next steps, what are the instructions to be followed?

4:47 Let them read the instruction manual of the next board game that they open. Let them read the manual and explain to their younger sibling or to the rest of the family members how the game should be played. Dear parents, some reading is better than no reading at all. So don't hesitate in allowing them to read anything that they enjoy reading and make reading a pleasurable activity. Number four. This could be great fun. Children love to compete with their friends and keep track of what their friends are doing.

5:22 So maybe four or five parents could get together, create a small book club right now online, because we are in closure do. But later it could be an offline book club where children actually are able to compete, are able to bet, are able to compare how many books they read at the end of every week, how many you know, what authors did they read? What titles did they read? Dear parents, children love to spend time with their friends.

5:49 Friends are the peer group is a huge factor of motivating or demotivating your child. So try and get a few people in your social circle to make a small book club with your friends. And my favorite. And the fifth trick is write small notes to your children and leave them for various instructions that you want to pass on to them. It could be a letter that a small note or a letter that you write to your child just before he wakes up telling him a few things about the day or what you want.

6:22 It could be a nice instruction sheet that you leave for the child just, just you know, before you go for a shower, get them into the habit of reading anything. Letter writing is a lost art now. But let's bring back a little bit of note writing into our lives and you will automatically see the difference. My child actually responds back to me in notes. So reading and writing are actually complementary activities. And you will find the difference when you start communicating with your children in in an handwritten fashion.

6:56 So dear parents, do try these out. Reading is a very essential skill that children have to pick up. The faster, better readers do better in their later school years and in later life. So this is one definite area that you don't want to miss out on. So more soon with more tricks and tips from Get Set and parent with Pallu.