This one goes out to the person who thinks that I’m pressuring my kids to love reading. Yes, I’m being defensive and have every right to do so.
I always look forward to bedtime because I get to be bossy and tell everyone to get out of the room so I can put the twins to bed.
Remember that the dateline as of April 5, 2015 (Easter Sunday) is Cebu, Philippines – where we’re surrounded with family members namely my Mom, my two brothers, my Aunt Rose and my seven-year-old cousin, Trixie.
So when the clock strikes eight every evening, I make a grand announcement of clearing the room and leaving me alone with the twins.
I start the routine by saying the first line of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind…). Nick and Toni would immediately stop whatever they’re doing, come to bed and listen to what I have to read and say, as if it’s the only thing in the world that really mattered at that very moment.
At one year and nine months, the twins love their bedtime stories. I’m not saying this because I’m their resident storyteller. I’m telling you this based on 21 months of monitoring their listening habits, language development, child-to-child interaction – and comparing these milestones with research and scientific studies. The last two months is a marathon of rapid development. All in one day, the twins learned to do three to four action songs with Nicholas taking the lead. Antoinette picked up more Cebuano words and is more vocal in expressing her feelings (e.g. gutom ko/I’m hungry).
Tonight after reading Where the Wild Things Are and Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown), Antoinette grabbed the copy of Where the Wild Things Are and told me to read it…again. I read it…again, and again, and again until Nicholas grabbed it, put the book on his lap and retold the story using his own language.
I was told some days ago that I should not pressure my kids to love reading and give them toys instead. I replied with a smile. Sorry honey, you really don’t know what happens in our home aside from the photos I post on social media. My kids have toys; they watch Winnie the Pooh (limited to one hour everyday); they play like crazy; they go outside to play with other kids; they eat mud; and I allow them to walk with bare feet. In short, I let my kids be kids. But I also make sure that I teach them life lessons and skills which they may find useful in the long run.
The thing with reading that discourages children to like it is not reading per se; it’s how the habit of reading is being shared to them. My personal stand is to make reading fun and exciting to children especially the early learners. That’s why storytelling is used as a strategy to develop that love of reading because you cannot employ hard sell tactics to kids. Trust me, it doesn’t work. I’m not a teacher but more than 10 decades of dealing with children taught me that the best way to get them to love something is to make them like it first. For them to like it, it has to be fun and interactive and engaging.
Reading is not an exclusive habit of children whose parents forced them to read. Reading is for all. Reading is an all-embracing activity that children can enjoy with their parents.
On a final note, I’d like to share last week’s experience that made me ponder on parenting and my role as a mother.
One thing I learned about parenting is that you can’t let anyone dictate you on how to raise your child(ren), not even your Mother. You can listen to what other people would say (and they would say a lot) but the decision to follow them is yours to make.
Don’t ever let anyone dictate you; they didn’t endure nine months of carrying that child, undergo painful hours of labor/operation, and then spend sleepless nights changing diapers and feeding the hungry hippos.
