The Greatest Gift I could give my child is a love of books!

From being a young child I have loved reading. My big sister introduced me to The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton when I could first read. Every Saturday she used to take me to the library and show me books she had loved as a child and her love and passion for books passed to me.

From those early days reading has been one of my greatest passions. I love holding a new book, the smell, the anticipation of what is to come all adds to the experience.

When I had my child the first thing I did was tell bedtime stories to him from being a baby. I bought textured books, fabric books, colourful books and he just used to slither off my knee and preferred climbing, running and jumping.

When he started school I persevered with the bedtime stories introducing one of my favourites Harry Potter but to no avail. Whilst I read he would jump on the bed like it was a trampoline.

As time has gone by and now he is 8 his reading is fluent but every week is a war when he has to read for homework anyone would think he was being tortured.

Then a couple of weeks ago we watched an old film 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' which David really enjoyed. A few days after when shopping I saw the book and bought it. That night I said to David I would read it to which I got the usual mumbling disgust.

Instead of jumping though he started to listen and then started wanting to look at the sketches. When I had read a few pages I said 'OK Night God Bless' and something miraculous happened he asked if he could read some himself for 10 minutes and he did, and he did the next night and the next and today he has asked if we can get the next in the series as he loved it.

I am soooo happy, finally, at last, something has clicked with him. I know some may think so what but to me being a book lover its massive. I feel like a new world has opened up to him where anything can happen, where he can see, hear and feel things in his imagination. I just think reading is such a Gift and I just wanted my child to share it to.

a reply to: anxiouswens

Well done you!!!

You might want to watch The Princess Bride with him - a grandpa reading to his sick grandchild - not only an awesome Story, but a poignant scenario of a reluctant kid getting reeled in by the richness of the story, too.

I credit my mother teaching me how to read at a very early age for my evil super-genius capabilities.

I was an avid reader as a child.

I loved the Secret Seven, Famous five and Roald Dahl's books such as the amazing Mr Fox, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the giant Peach.

Later in my teenage years, I started reading about the UFO phenomenon, Nazi Germany, and liked to read biographical books.

I must admit I don't read so many books now, but enjoy research on the Internet and I have spent the last 10+ years researching conspiracies and investigating the sham political system of the western World.

My own son loves to read and due to an accident at work, he is undertaking, amongst other subjects, A level in English Literature, in order to get himself into University and undertake a degree in the field he has always had an interest in, sports Journalism.

As a librarian, I concur. Read to your child once a day at least as soon as they will pay attention. It's not so much the "reading" at first but the comfort they get by being next to you and you paying attention to them. If you do this I can almost guarantee they will be reading before entering school and will continue to read several grade levels above where they are. SUCH an incredible advantage! Plus you will create a lifelong reader.

a reply to: anxiouswens

Love of books starts early. I read my older brothers school books before I entered school. (Ok so they were simple picture books the romance still started early)

I got my library card when I was five. You had to be able to sign your name or at least write it. The library was walking distance from my house in Queens NYC and I could go alone. (It was the early sixties. Kennedy was still alive and the world wasn't as wacky a place)
I've had a library card in good standing since 1962.
Nowadays I even use it to download books to my e reader. Look up overdrive.com

a reply to: schuyler

My son's all love to read. Two even have my taste in books. (Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Michael Crichton)
I read to them when they were little though not every day. Part was setting an example . They saw both parents reading all the time.

a reply to: schuyler

True. My kids all had exceptional reading skills . That lead to better grades in all the other subjects.

a reply to: schuyler

I highly agree! My mom read to me every day when I was very little. I learned how to read long before I went to school. I didn't go to Kindergarten (it wasn't required back then), so when I started first grade, the teacher had a conference with my mom to get an idea of what level I was, as a first year student. When she found out I hadn't gone to Kindergarten, the teacher was aghast! She claimed that it would be very difficult to get me up to the same reading level as the other first graders. My mother kept trying to tell her that I could read quite well. Not convinced, the teacher pulled me aside and asked me to read at different levels. I read comfortably at the 6th grade level at the age of 6. That same teacher (jokingly) complained to my mother later that it was very difficult to keep me challenged in her first grade class.

a reply to: anxiouswens

Outstanding. Awakening your child's desire to learn will be one of the best gifts you ever give them.

Don't 'overdue' it.

a reply to: kaylaluv

My youngest who is now twenty could also read , write and do simple math before he started school.
I sat him at a computer when he was two and introduced him to reader rabbit and a bunch of other fun learning programs.
His teacher said it was obvious someone had worked with him before he started school. He stayed an honor student until high school. Then there were girls and being smart didn't equal cool. Lol. He got over that.

a reply to: anxiouswens

"You may have tangible wealth untold,
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold;
But richer than I you can never be,
For I had a mother who read to me!"

I cross-stitched that poem on a pillow for my mother 30+ years ago and she still cherishes it...

Reading is magical!!!

Ours loves books.

He used to bring book after book to me as a toddler to have read, and then just as suddenly, he'd be off to run around the house like a miniature dervish of destruction.

He now has a small library of his own. Everything from the abridged, illustrated children's classics (he's partial to Tom Sawyer and Gulliver's Travels) to Dr. Seuss to a series of graphic novels called Ricky Ricotta and His Mighty Robot (one for each planet of the solar system with awesomely alliterative titles like Voodoo Vultures from Venus). He gets one story from each of us in the evening before bed (or one longer story split in two). It's good we established that ritual early because the school wants at least 10 minutes of reading to kids each day until they can do the deed on their own.

As a result, I have a 5 year old who uses "damage" like most kids use "break" or "broken." Asked a question about the cartoon he was watching - "Mama, why did the spaceship emerge from the portal?" and he tried using "calculate" yesterday although it wasn't quite used correctly. He also told me he wanted to have a "conversation" just a few minutes ago, and he drinks water because he has to "hydrate."

I know plenty of adults who don't use those words.

So, yes, reading is important. I would say just keep trying until you get him hooked. The more he practices, the easier it will hopefully get. If it doesn't, then maybe it's time to think about whether or not there is something impeding his ability to read which makes it harder than it should be, but that's another conversation.

originally posted by: kaylaluv
a reply to: schuyler

I highly agree! My mom read to me every day when I was very little. I learned how to read long before I went to school. I didn't go to Kindergarten (it wasn't required back then), so when I started first grade, the teacher had a conference with my mom to get an idea of what level I was, as a first year student. When she found out I hadn't gone to Kindergarten, the teacher was aghast! She claimed that it would be very difficult to get me up to the same reading level as the other first graders. My mother kept trying to tell her that I could read quite well. Not convinced, the teacher pulled me aside and asked me to read at different levels. I read comfortably at the 6th grade level at the age of 6. That same teacher (jokingly) complained to my mother later that it was very difficult to keep me challenged in her first grade class.

My mother read to me, and while I didn't start out reading, I was up to where she was reading me advanced chapter books when I started kindergarten.

When I started reading, it took me a while to get oriented, but I spent the summer after 1st grade obsessed with dinosaurs and checked out every book in the library I could find on the subject and taught myself how to read the names. By the time I went back in the fall, I had shot up several grade levels in reading. I never looked back.

Books...

My tablet weighs less, I don't have to strain my fingers by opening it or turning pages, you can't alter or delete anything you don't agree with, not to mention that books are highly flammable and take up a lot space if you have many, etc.

There is an OBVIOUS disadvantage to reading "books". All I do is pay an easy monthly fee for utilities and with an initial investment of $100 dollars or more, I end up with a much better way to display text. I also don't get "stuck" all day reading since I'm not always around a source of power.

This forces me to spend less time reading and more time doing something constructive like burning books in my backyard to make s'mores for the kids. Real, quality time with the family, while helping create a little extra space around the house is a great way to spend the afternoon.

The stories you share around that fire will last a lifetime, if recorded onto an SD card. When your kid can afford his own tablet, they will finally discover the joy of reading without ever knowing the burden of holding and flipping through a "book". You can then pass down that SD card, full of precious memories to your child.

(I was bored)

Awww thats beautiful. I must admit I get so much from reading with David as well. Its our little bit of together time at the end of the day, where we also have a chat. David loves history and science and whenever he has these type of books for homework the ideas he has and the way his little mind can envisage so many possibilities to do with space and time is brill. I love being a mum best job I gave ever had a reply to: Boadicea

David reads fluently and has done for a while and his vocabulary is far beyond his years so I dont think that is what has been stopping his enjoyment, maybe just he wasnt ready or it wasnt something that rocked his boat.

He does however struggle with spellings and that is another reason why I would like him to read more, I think one thing helps the other. Everything always came easily to me when I was at school and I always got top grades with the minimum of effort. David is opposite, he has it all in his head and puts 100% effort in but finds it hard to get it on to paper although he is getting so much better. Maybe that is why he is now enjoying reading because his confidence is growing, hopefully!a reply to: ketsuko

a reply to: anxiouswens

The two things our parents made sure to give us exposure to:

Reading, and Music.

Priceless.
We went to the library every week, from very early....I did the same with my two - and I read aloud to them into their middle-school years. A family tradition.
Reading and Music; the two most precious things one can learn.

a reply to: anxiouswens

Your little boy sounds like mine was. I swore I could see the gears shifting in his bright little mind. And it was so amazing seeing things fresh from the eyes of children... now I'm just waiting for my son to give me grandbabies to enjoy it all over again!

Ours mostly gets to explore and experience just about everything so long as it isn't going to kill him or seriously injure him.

He can be absolutely fearless which is both awesome when you see him compared to other, more timid kids his age and a bit terrifying.