As a child I love to read, I remembered my mummy calling me to wash the dishes and being upset because I was coming to the good part and did not want to be disturb. Now as an adult reading is my favorite pastime especially to cuddle up on my bed with a good book. So you could imagine my frustration, when God bless me with my handsome son and realize that it seems that he dislike reading. When it is time for this particular activity, he would shy away as much as possible in favor of doing something else. As a parent and teacher, I was frustrated because I know the importance of reading, and if a child cannot read the implication it would have for that child. So I had to do something so my child can at least like reading, I had to motivate him instead of being upset with him.
How do I motivate my child? I spoke to his teacher who had no idea what I was talking about because his marks in reading which I must mentioned was in the nineties, and also to other colleagues who gave me some ideas which will help and of course the internet.
1. I needed to learn my child interest and buy interesting books based on those interest.
2. He loves the television, so I began to look at the shows he was watching and brought books based on these shows.
3. I read books with him, and made it exciting that he would be engaged. I even tried the different voices and I realize that he was enjoying the way I was reading to him.
4. We both went to the book store once a month and he got to choose a book that he found interesting. If he finished reading that book before the month ended, he gets a gift. (I know pretty expensive but the outcome is rewarding)
He likes to read now, not love, but I do not have to beg and shout for him to read. So I believe it is a big step in the right direction.
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ReplyDeleteJill, I agree with you that sometimes it can be frustrating when you as a teacher know the importance of reading and your child seems to dislike reading. And of course you know the whole gender bias where girls perform better than boys at academics. However, the top student at the S.E.A examinations, this year, was a boy.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience with my three-year old son, I learnt the importance of having a print- rich environment to encourage emergent literacy behaviors. Initially, I would bring the first primer and show him the letters and then let him practice the sounds but his attention span was very short (yes I know, he is only three). So, instead of frustrating him and myself, I stocked up on books that were of interest to him (he loves animals and the Discovery Channel) and arranged them on the bookshelf within his reach. And amazingly , he would go to the shelf in his own time and read the books(making up his own story of course).
I always read the classic fairytales to him and so he learnt them by heart. His favourite is the Three Little Pigs. I also ask him questions, for example, “How do you think the little pigs felt?” and “What would he have done if he was one of the little pigs or the wolf?” And he gave some interesting answers.
Modeling is also very important because when he sees me reading or using the computer he wants to do the same and so I have taught him how to manipulate the mouse and click to play the learning games on www.starfall.com.
Okay, I know I will keep going on and on once I start talking about my blessed boy.
The topic of aliteracy is very real, that is, students who can read but choose not to. It seens that it is very difficult to motivate boys especially to read and there are some motivational strategies which I would try again because I have tried them all before. However, my oldest son is now starting to enjoy reading and many times he would visit the library after school and would share information about books he has read. I tried getting books based on television shows my boys enjoyed but it did not work so now I think I have to re-evaluate my strategy. Even in school the girls read for pleasure more than the boys and this places them at a greater advantage in the literacy classroom.
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