Reading

Our Doodhwala asked to Megh “Hey, you are not going to school…do you know reading?” He just smiled and nodded.

Learning language starts with the birth. Child listens so much around and starts picking up words and speaks. Then learn alphabets and start reading…I think that’s common in almost everybody’s learning. But there is difference…in reading. More you absorb life more meaningful will be your reading. And that meaningful reading keeps child interested in reading further. So, according to me this ‘Absorbing Life’ is very important in reading and it requires freely explore the world around. The more a child know things, people, plants, animals, fragrances, feelings etc. with his all senses the more powerful will be his understanding about world and more he connect himself with it. When such real life experiences he reads in books it instantly connects him to reading. So roots of reading are deeper than people guess. Early reading starts from lots of talk, exploring world around, introducing picture books, storytelling and read-aloud routine….and it’s not tough but fun in fact!

So, all this is preparing soil and sowing seed which is most important…now how we did daily watering.

I’m very poor in keeping records, … but my blogpost dated January, 2009 says I have introduced sandpaper letters to Megh at 3 and ½ year of his age…it was wonderful experience as he loves touch experiences and same time developed interests in Gujarati alphabets. I have made sandpaper letters using 0 no. sandpaper and waste card boards collected from a friend and kept reachable to Megh. Whenever he wished he bring that bag to me and we start moving fingers on letters and slowly started identifying them. Then started identifying letters from real life print world and within no time 34 letters were known to him! It was achievement for me after facing reading reluctance with Ashna after 4 years of schooling.

After alphabets I have started making cards of his favourite things and characters. Pooh, Eva, Almond, Carrot etc. and loved connecting picture cards with respective word cards. When need of more difficult words arise I made a Toran of Gujarati vowels and it was more effective with song k,ka,ki,kee,ku,koo….. Now no need of any more cards and he started reading from wherever he can. Once he read a scheme at Amul’s counter which was out of my sight and we took advantage , such experiences show him advantage of reading and encouraged to read more.

Along with all this we have regular routine of storytelling and read aloud. Early reading book from NBT,CBT and Pratham were good at building confidence that ‘I can read book’.

All these knowing alphabets, connecting cards or reading books activity never extended more than 10-15 minutes a day and that too not regular only when he wished. We have early reading books in hindi too and he picked it up himself and without I know how, he learnt reading Hindi!

English is not our day to day language. Megh liked exploring starfall.com and thus developed knowledge of phonics, started reading K&Y’s books and simple words from around. Building confidence reading early reading books in English now.

This is ‘reading’…part of our learning and here is a conversation between me and Megh y'day.....

For what this 'Boring' sticker?
Do you have any book that you don't like?
No, but I can stick 'boring' to all my favourite books!
Why?????!!!!!!!!!!!
I like to read them so much that I wish they never end but they ends and I don't like that!