All About Grooming & Encouraging Good Reading Habits

[breguet]

jedamum:

Hi,

I am trying to cultivate my 6 yr old to read...think its a bit too late. Despite starting early, ie reading everynight since he was a toddler, he doesn't like to read at all.
I'm now trying a slightly different method with my going-2yr old.
1. I read that it is crucial to make reading materials readily available. So instead of keeping the books in a cupboard in the bedroom (like i used to previously), now I put it on a open shelf in the living room.
2. Instead of fixing a timing (eg bedtime) like i used to, now reading can be done anytime of the day (cos I have the luxury of being a sahm now)...after breakfast, during lunch (when my boy finishes his food and need to wait for other people), in the queue (mainly to entertain/distract him) etc etc.
3. When the kid is busy browsing through the books, avoid the temptation to sit down and read to him. Let the kid do some 'independent reading' of his own.

I hope the above will work in cultivating ds2 into a bookworm.

Now my 6 yr old 'blamed' me for his dislike for reading, cos he said that previously I did not read to him throughout the day and only during bedtime. :shock:

Hi Jedamum,

Yah, I now display all the books so he can pick what ever is of interest to him. My son likes to read on his own, so I'm lucky in this respect. He's not the sort who will read what I want him to read, so I place \"good books\" all over the house for him to choose from. I'm a new SAHM too :), so I can choose tougher material (above his reading ability) to read to him at any time of the day, although this still happens largely at bedtime.

I can see you also have a cheeky one on your hands! :lol:

[jedamum]

BlueBells:

I have read one Geronimo Stilton book, and though I agree that the artwork of the book is very enticing, I am not in the least bit captivated by the story line.

Popular Bookstore is having sales now, so I picked up two titles to let my boy try out.
Although I agree that the storyline is so-so, that mouse is working his magic on my boy. I have not been nagging him to read for the past week (Yippee!!). He is on his second book now.

breguet:

All this talk about good looking women, I feel, is not exactly appropriate for young children. I didn't know how to explain to my 5yo!

Erm...still remember which title is that?
My boy is currently captivated by Pinky. He told me about how he wished that she is real so that he can meet her. :roll:

[mummytofengkai]

My P2 boy loves books on sci , history and geography. I try and get him to read books from other genres...at times it's been challenging..He loves his Young Scientist and even guide books for P3...hopefully he wont have any problems in sci next yr

Recently, he asked me to get books from this range :
http://www.kidslovetravel.com/travel_mystery_books.htm

[fo12eal]

[Moderator's note: Topics merged.]


To name a few

At the moment they are
1. Julia Donaldson
2. Lucy Cousins
3. Richard Scarry
4. Sandra Boynton
5. Eric Carle
6. Dr Suess

Any other nice authors out there to share?

[J2mum]

Like tamarind, I started my ger with Ladybird series. The words just repeat n repeat many times. Infact I got so boring with the book. I thot that was very uninteresting.


Little did I know it actually help my daughter into a independent reader. She is able to finish the 1a then 1b and process on to a higher grade. Althot we didnt go thru the book every day or weeks, my ger is able to read some simple book all by herself.

Mummies can really consider investing in the Ladybird series.

[J2mum]

mummytofengkai:

My P2 boy loves books on sci , history and geography. I try and get him to read books from other genres...at times it's been challenging..He loves his Young Scientist and even guide books for P3...hopefully he wont have any problems in sci next yr

Recently, he asked me to get books from this range :
http://www.kidslovetravel.com/travel_mystery_books.htm

This is a local website? The books are quoted in US or Sin$?

[mckenzy]

my son is p4… this year he switched from geronimo to hardy boys and the ‘choose your own adventure’ series… i decided on hardy boys because i wanted to find out the formula to why it appealed to me last time at his age…


there is a certain type of story-telling for it and i think it is evident in certain types of books only.

now i’m on the look-out for titles that exhibit similar patterns… mystery and adventure seems to be a good starting point.

[ChiefKiasu]

mckenzy:

my son is p4... this year he switched from geronimo to hardy boys and the 'choose your own adventure' series... i decided on hardy boys because i wanted to find out the formula to why it appealed to me last time at his age....

I feel http://www.thrillingdetective.com/3invest.html is by far superior to Hardy Boys, which are rather watered down and predicable to me, but it's different strokes for different folks.

[sunflower]

Not too sure why but I was drawn to Alfred Hitchcock's The 3 Investigators more than Hardy Boys. In fact, during my pri sch days, my friends loved Hardy Boys and Bobby Twins, but I didn't find the stories interesting. I preferred Nancy Drew, amongst other Enid Blyton mystery series. Also, I loved C.S. Lewis Lion, Witch and Wardrobe and the subsequent titles. They're just some of my personal preference.

[mckenzy]

i think i may know why...


i believe hardy boys talks more on situations and action... things that boys are related-to... whereas The 3 Investigators may deal with more complex issues like character development... Narnia definitely goes into that area... i suppose thats why i devoured books like spy novels, detective series and scifi when i was younger...

i think most boys at that age prefer non-stop action...

last week i tried something different:

http://www.katedicamillo.com/books/tale.html