The ruffle of paper. The smell of the printed word. Ah! The world of books. Where you could get lost in a world of fantasies. There is perhaps nothing else to beat the world of books. Or is it? With the onslaught of the electronic and digital media, there is a lot of debate going on whether we are doing enough to develop the reading habit in the children of today. Are they more into consuming video content? Is the ‘charm’ going out of reading books? TCIS a well established CBSE School, of course has the knowledge trove – the Library to be beneficial for the students.

While there is no denying the continued growth of the digital media, there is no reason why the good old habit of reading books should disappear. In fact, both the media can complement each other’s growth. Research has proven the various benefits of reading. From improving inter-personal communication skills to development of vocabulary and self-confidence, there is a lot that reading offers.

 Here are a few handy tips that can help develop the reading habit in your child.

Make reading fun:

This is perhaps the most important thing to do if you want your child to develop a consistent, reading habit. How do you do it? Well, the answer is simple. Find out what is that your child likes reading about. Is could be anything ranging from comics to sci-fi to pop-fiction, magazines, current affairs to sports, to rhymes. Whatever it is identify it and then start with the particular genre.  You can then gradually expose your child to a wider variety of publications.

Like parents, like child:

You don’t need to be an expert in child psychology to know that every child subconsciously imitates his or her parent’s behavior. It is therefore important that you too are ‘seen’ by the child, reading books. One good idea will be to have an area earmarked for reading, however small, as the designated library in the house. Make the children at home in charge of the library. They could be asked to mark down the different genres and arrange the books neatly. They can also simultaneously do the same with the e-books. The idea here is to ensure they stay connected with the world of books.

Newspaper habit:

One of the best ways to trigger a daily reading habit is by ensuring that the child reads the newspaper regularly. Ask the child to collect news about a particular topic and create a scrap book. Or it could also be a scrapbook containing news about the major events such as in politics, sports, business, fashion, entertainment, etc.

Regular library visits:

Another activity that parents can try is to take their children regularly to a good local library. They can keep a notebook or dairy with them to jot down important points. This will help cultivate a love for books in them.

Networking with peers:

Children can also exchange books with their friends. This leads to healthy interaction about the various topics that they get to read. This can additionally have a positive impact on their communication skills.

Bed time stories:

A lot of us seem to have forgotten the art of story-telling to young children. Mothers and grandmothers putting the kids at home to sleep while reciting them stories is the stuff that is, or rather was, part of every Indian household folklore. It is time to bring back this tradition. ‘Play-acting’ the child’s favorite characters from books could be a good way to trigger the passion for reading, especially among the ones in the younger grades.

As a well established CBSE School in the city of Coimbatore, TCIS make sure that children have got access to a variety of publications in the Library having access to both the hard, as well as soft copies.