Encouraging and establish an interest is two different things. As a parent, it is a lifetime opportunity to establish your child’s interest in studies in the founding years. The crucial time to imbibe educational interest in kids, I believe starts from the time they are born to 6 years of their age. Let’s take a journey together about what I have experienced and established with my child as a mother.
A mother’s struggle
Just like you, I have been working hard to establish that one element in my child- education is inevitable!
When I was a child, my mother preached to me how studying well was crucial for me. However, like any other toddler, things went past like a breeze to when I became a mother myself.
Not all mothers are blessed with kids who are extremely talented or are book warms. However, settling in Singapore when my daughter was 3, I realized education or for that matter interest in books doesn’t eventually arise with their school-going years, rather it starts early when they don’t know what is what.
A personal story
Those who have been reading my blogs by now, definitely know that I love to tell stories that inspire. So as I was saying, when I came to Singapore, my idea about libraries and books changes completely. If you remember the scene from Munna Bhai MBBS where they show a library, my mental picture of the library was quite the same as that.
Though I have visited my school library that brought no interest to me.
Here Kids’ libraries are colourful and the environment makes kids friendly with books. Actually, kids start with being friends with books just by changing pages and looking at the pictures. Kids don’t read sentences on the first day.
As Indian parents, we mostly miss that link of making our kids book-friendly. So, here I will explain a few tips on how to establish your child’s interest in studies so that they find it fun to be around books.
5 ways to establish your child’s interest in studies
Introduce books at an early age
It’s never too late. You are right! But it’s better to introduce books to kids at a very early age of around 0 to 6 months.
While you set up a nursery for your child at home, make sure that along with infant-friendly toys, you also purchase books that are specially made for infants. Age-appropriate books are essential for your child’s future.
Create a small library at home and you show interest in books
So now that books are not alien to your kids, set up a small library, (really small) at home and take a personal interest in books. You cannot imbibe the characteristics of a book reader in your child just by telling them. As your child follows your every action, your interest in books will make them a bookworm too.
Never scold your child while studying
Most of the parents lose them cools while teaching their kids. It is crucial to make your child feel that studying is fun. Scolding can however send a wrong impression to your child that studying can be boring or troublesome.
Always make your child understand and accept that they are still young and may need more time to understand a particular thing or subject.
The best way to explain things to kids is by making them visual.
Add some elements to your classrooms such as building blocks, Alphabets, wooden sticks to count, and much more. It is proven through various researches that kids tend to retain long-term memory of the things that they can see, touch, and feel.
Don’t keep education limited to books
In this multimedia world, kids have access to the various mediums of education, such as computers, laptops, and books, and e-books. Changing mediums can help in retaining your child’s interest in studies. However, I prefer the old-school method of sticking to a book, but having exposure to e-learning helps in today’s education system.
Play kids study games
Last but not the least, kids love to play games. Play games with your child that if not directly, but indirectly help them to retain memory and learn something. I prefer playing the memory game, stick building blocks, and our favourite learning box.
It’s never too late, start your journey today
Don’t waste your time, you can always start today from where you are. Just believe in your child, evaluate their capabilities and work towards building a strong inclination of your child towards studies. And always encourage your child to practice to achieve excellence.
