Want a child who can read and learn independently? Try these 5 tips

When Ogawa was a few months old, I started reading picture books to him. Later, I gradually added English picture books, fairy tales, popular science books, and pure text classics (such as \”A Wrinkle in Time\”, \”Harry Potter\”). ”, “The Wind in the Willows”, etc.). By the time he started kindergarten, he should have read over 1,000 books (God knows how I did it!). I remember when Xiaochuan was more than 3 years old, we once read books in the National Library for 6 hours! Even I, a professional teacher who often attends four classes in a row, can\’t stand it anymore and feels like I\’m about to \”explode my lungs.\” It\’s tiring, but it\’s worth the effort. The biggest benefit of long-term parent-child reading is that Xiaochuan\’s interest and habit of reading have been successfully established. Reading books every day, especially in the morning and evening, has become his fixed \”ritual\”. Seeing that he was already like this, when he was a little over 4 years old, I started the next step – to cultivate his ability and habit of independent reading. Because when parents and children read together, no matter how we inspire and guide the children, it is generally a kind of \”teaching learning\”, which is the process in which we instill knowledge and opinions into the children. In the long run, independent learning plays a more important role in children\’s growth. The older you are and the higher your learning level, the more obvious the differentiation effect of independent learning ability is. Independent reading is the starting point for independent learning. I heard a saying before, and I think it makes sense: \”Children who listen carefully will occasionally be excellent, but children who study carefully will always be excellent!\” Back to the topic, how do you get your children to start reading on their own? Especially if he is illiterate or illiterate. Independent reading actually requires him to leave his original \”comfort zone\” and go to a new world that is somewhat unfamiliar and full of difficulties. For him, it\’s not a big challenge. How can we help him? After successful experiments on Xiaochuan, my experience is that you can try these tricks: 1. If you are lazy, your children will be more diligent. When cousin Xiaochuan was 6 years old, he was able to read pure text books completely independently. His mother said that one of the secrets is that if parents are lazy, their children will be more diligent. When parents take care of everything and read all the books to their children, the children will develop a strong dependence and lack the initiative to start independent reading. If parents are lazy, they can actually give their children some opportunities to read independently. So, sometimes, when your child comes to you to read a book with him, you can try to say to him: \”Mom is a little busy now, can you read it by yourself for 5 minutes? Mom will read it with you later.\” After that, Slowly extend it from 5 minutes to 10 minutes, 15 minutes… Reading is happy. When a child calms down and reads by himself, even if he only has a half-knowledge of the drawings, he will be able to appreciate the meaning and the pleasure of quiet reading. All we have to do is give him a chance and an environment where he won\’t be disturbed. 2. Create a warm and comfortable reading corner for children. Although there are many books at home, we still go to the National Library to read. Because there is a kind of magical power there. No matter how lively and active the children are, they will no longer run around or make any noise when they arrive there.Talk, sit quietly in a corner and read a book. Ogawa often watches for 5 or 6 hours. This is the power of environment. An area dedicated to reading should also be set up at home to help children realize that the reading corner is as essential a part of the home as the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom; and reading is as natural as eating, sleeping, and bathing. The place does not need to be big, a small and cozy corner is enough. Some books, a lamp, and a comfortable seat make the child feel that it is his exclusive space, his secret base for reading alone. 3. Start with books that the child has read and liked. Because he is illiterate, the child will definitely resist at the beginning: \”Mom, how can I read a book if I don\’t know how to read?\” At this time, it is recommended to take out the picture books that he has read and liked. Because he has read it more than once, he is very familiar with the content of the picture book. As he reads it, he can connect the plot content and pictures that his parents have talked about before. There are also wordless books that are also very suitable for children to start independent reading, such as the \”Mom Reading\” series and the \”Just Can\’t Find\” series. There are no words in the whole book. Children just look at the patterns and imagine or write their own stories. 4. Encourage children to tell stories. Encouraging children to tell stories they read in books is also a good way to motivate them. Firstly, you can see how far your child has understood the book; secondly, encourage him to think further and truly transform what he sees into content that he truly understands and can express; thirdly, provide him with demonstrations Opportunities for self-motivation by enhancing his sense of achievement and motivating him to further independent reading. Ogawa often tells us stories about what he saw. Even if I tell him old stories before, he can still tell some new ideas. This is the fundamental reason why I insist on his independent reading: the stories told by others are other people\’s stories. You must see them with your own eyes and think through your own brain to form real \”my knowledge and opinions\”. In this process, children\’s independent learning ability is slowly developed. 5. The auxiliary role of parent-child shared reading. From parent-child shared reading to independent reading, it is definitely not as simple and crude as throwing a book to the child and saying: \”You have grown up, you should read by yourself.\” In my opinion, parent-child reading together has always laid the foundation for children\’s independent reading. In fact, even if a child can read independently, it is recommended that parent-child reading should continue. This is a window for us to understand the child\’s inner world and an important channel for establishing an intimate relationship with the child. Moreover, when your child first starts to read independently, he or she has relatively few words. When reading with him, you can deliberately slow down your reading speed, or even point to the Chinese characters and read them to him word for word. Sometimes you can also deliberately test him on what word that is. Slowly, as your child\’s vocabulary expands, he will become more confident and motivated to read on his own. At the end of the first issue of \”The Reader\”, Dong Qing said that he should insist on reading to his children because \”I also want to lead him to encounter silent words, encounter vocal conversations, encounter flowers and leaves, and encounter the world.\” This is our motivation to insist on parent-child reading together. However, I still hope that children can use their own eyes to \”encounter silent words, encounterSee a flower and a leaf, and encounter the vast world.\” Because only the world that you feel independently is your own world.