How to make children fall in love with reading?

Reading is an important way to obtain information, understand the world, develop thinking, and gain aesthetic experience. Reading ability is a core quality that modern people must possess. It can be said that reading ability is learning ability. However, my country\’s primary and secondary school students still have limited reading time, lack of interest in reading, and \”examination-oriented\” reading selection. How can parents guide their children to truly love and enjoy reading and return to the meaning of reading itself? How to make children fall in love with reading? The family education forum co-sponsored by the Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau and China Education Press invited Xiong Youping, principal of Shenzhen Best Primary School and member of the Shenzhen Reading Steering Committee, to provide parents with guidance on how to lead their children to read in terms of reading values ​​and reading guidance strategies. scientific concepts and feasible methods. Guide children to read for fun and cultivate lifelong readers. Xiong Youping first introduced the current reading situation of primary and secondary school students. A survey conducted by East China Normal University in 2020 showed that among more than 18,000 survey samples, nearly one-half of the students read less than 1 hour per week, and nearly one-third of the students read less than 1 hour per week. Between 1-2 hours. And as age increases, reading time shows a downward trend. \”Children are not born readers, and the human brain is not designed for reading.\” Xiong Youping further analyzed the reasons why children do not like to read. He cited several reasons why children read less in the \”Intimate Sister\” children\’s reading survey report: 50.6% of children do not have time and energy to read; 34.6% of children do not know what books to read; 20.9% of children feel that the books recommended by their parents are ugly; 18.4% of children feel that reading is too tiring; 9.4% of children feel that there is no reading atmosphere around them. \”Since few children take the initiative to like reading, the role of parents in leading and leading readers in this process is particularly important.\” He particularly emphasized the importance of families establishing a correct value orientation in guiding children to read. First, we must fully understand the meaning of reading. \”In addition to the well-known values ​​​​that reading can enrich knowledge, cultivate wisdom, shape the soul, and cultivate sentiment, we must also realize the value of reading in learning.\” This also corrects a misunderstanding among many parents, that is, thinking that children read extracurricular books. Books can affect academic performance. In fact, a large number of studies show that reading ability affects performance in almost all subjects. \”Reading has an increasing impact on the high school and college entrance examinations. The current trend is that the amount of reading in all subject papers of the college entrance examination is increasing, and the era of \’all-subject reading\’ has arrived.\” The second is to fully understand the purpose of reading. \”The purposes of reading vary widely and can be summarized into three categories: one is reading for fun, the other is reading for information, and the third is reading for language learning.\” Xiong Youping pointed out that in family reading, guide children to read for fun. Reading should be a focus of parents\’ attention. The third is to accurately grasp the goal of reading. \”The goal of parents should be to cultivate lifelong readers, that is, to enable their children to continue reading and learning in their lives after graduation. But the reality is that many families only cultivate student readers, and many children only read for exams.\” Xiong Youping reminded Parents should avoid two tendencies in family reading: First, do not rush to teach Chinese charactersword knowledge. If the text is emphasized, it will reduce children\’s happiness when reading storybooks together; secondly, do not turn reading into preaching or moral indoctrination. This tendency not only fails to achieve good results, but also causes children to hate reading. Respect the laws of development and personality differences, and be child-centered in book selection. Many parents don’t know how to choose appropriate reading materials for their children. Xiong Youping shared several principles for selection. The first principle is to be child-centered and select appropriate reading materials for children based on the rules of their physical and mental development. \”This should be the basic position of parents and teachers. Some of the popular best-selling books now emphasize the design for children. We should stay awake to this. Children have to pay a heavy price for adapting to the so-called \’education\’ arbitrarily designed by adults. .\” Xiong Youping strongly agrees with what French scholar Paul Azar said: \”I appreciate books that can liberate children\’s hearts and make them happy. Such books can protect children, preserve the happiness of the imaginary world, and avoid the laws of reality. The constraints.” The second principle is to focus on children’s literature. \”Children\’s literature is the most accessible spiritual food for children. In addition to having the cognitive, aesthetic, entertainment and educational functions of general literary works, it also contributes to children\’s spiritual development and mental health.\” Xiong Youping showed several children\’s literature From the list of favorite books, it is not difficult to find that they are basically children\’s literature books, mainly novels. \”Novel can be closer to the soul and show the meaning of life to children. Many parents today believe that they cannot learn anything by just reading novels, and always hope that their children will read more knowledge-based books. Parents should change their ideas and realize the importance of children\’s literature Value.\” Relevant research shows that there is a very significant positive correlation between primary and secondary school students\’ extracurricular reading time and their reading scores. Among them, literary books have the highest correlation, that is, the longer you read literary books outside class, the better your reading performance will be. The third principle is to respect children\’s interests. Xiong Youping believes that it is best to let children choose the books they want to read. \”Parents should always choose reading materials for their children based on their interests. If the children read books of their own choice, the probability of them persisting in reading will be much higher.\” Data from the 2016 \”China Urban Children\’s Reading Survey Report\” found that, There are two types of books that children are willing to read much more than parents are willing to read, one is fairy tales and the other is animation and cartoons. Xiong Youping suggested that parents, as leading readers, can find a connection point between adults\’ wishes and children\’s interests, and guide children to shift from their favorite reading materials to higher-quality and more tasteful books. He also summarized the characteristics of books that children like. First, they are books full of the spirit of play, which can make children feel happy, joyful and free, such as \”Alice in Wonderland\”; second, they are books full of profound morals, such as \”The Hole\” and \” \”Wind-Blowed Summer\” etc. This kind of books are often sincere and generous, caring for the healthy growth of children; third, they are humorous books. Children are often attracted by books that are full of fun, action, plot, and creativity. The fourth principle is respect for individuality and differences. Xiong Youping suggested that parents should choose suitable reading materials based on the physical and mental characteristics and reading characteristics of children of different ages.. For example, Professor Charles of Harvard University classified the stages of reading ability development into five stages: 0-6 years old is the pre-reading stage, which is characterized by looking at pictures and telling stories; 6-7 years old is the initial reading stage. It is characterized by combining text and pronunciation; 7-8 years old is the reading confirmation period, characterized by contextual reading; 9-14 years old is the reading period for obtaining information, and begins to acquire new knowledge through reading; 14-18 years old is the development of multiple perspectives During this period, the reading content increased in length and complexity. Create an ideal family reading environment to help children fall in love with reading. Xiong Youping emphasized the important role of parents and family environment in children\’s reading, and provided six scientific reading guidance strategies for parents to help children truly fall in love with reading. Concrete and feasible suggestions. The first is to increase the family book collection. \”When the environment is filled with reading materials, reading happens easily. The more opportunities you have to come into contact with books at home, the more you will read. If family conditions permit, try to create a neat and comfortable reading environment for your children, such as creating a dedicated study, or transform the living room into a space where you can read at any time.\” Xiong Youping believes that the ideal book collection for a family should be no less than 200 books. The second is to carry out family reading activities. \”The more reading activities you do with your children, the better your children\’s reading performance will be.\” There are many types of family reading activities that can be carried out. For example, parent-child reading activities in the preschool stage can include reading books, telling stories, playing word games, reading out Signs or labels, etc.; parent-child reading activities after children go to school can include listening to children read, discussing what they read after class and in class, you can also talk about the books parents read, and you can also go to the library or bookstore with your children. Go to reading lectures together etc. Xiong Youping particularly emphasized that fathers’ participation in family reading activities will be more effective, as it can help diversify children’s thinking, establish a close father-child relationship, and influence children’s social behavior. The third is to improve parents’ reading guidance level. Xiong Youping shared several reading skills for children of different ages. For preschool children, parents can tell the story patiently and carefully, and help the children initially experience the content of the story by pointing out or describing the pictures; for older children, they can read aloud emotionally and attract the children through lifelike imitation; In the third and fourth grade, you can use the interesting \”Reading\” to revise, play, draw, and act out stories with your children; in the senior grades, you can use the fascinating \”Question and Read\” to ask questions during reading to help children improve their observation and thinking abilities. Parents of middle and high school students can also discuss and learn from each other with their children through free exchange of shared readings. The fourth is to reduce children’s reading burden. \”Children are overloaded with schoolwork and have less time to read. Free and independent reading can help improve reading ability.\” Xiong Youping suggested that children should not be asked to do related homework as soon as they are allowed to read, and there is no need to require children to write their thoughts after reading. Parents also need to update some concepts, such as \”you can\’t read without writing\” and \”you can\’t read without asking for deep understanding\”, etc. \”Family reading does not necessarily have to combine reading and writing, and children do not necessarily need to \’seek a deeper understanding\’ in extracurricular reading. Interest should still be the starting point.\”The fifth is to create incentives. Children\’s reading needs to be stimulated. \”For example, attitudinal incentives include attentive listening and sincere encouragement; action incentives include accompanying children to participate in reading activities, competitions, etc.\” There are also good incentives to record children\’s reading footprints, display children\’s reading achievements, and give books to children as gifts. British educator Whitehead\’s purpose of education PDF 6 is for parents to set a good example. A large number of studies and facts have proven that the more positive the parents\’ reading attitude, the better the children\’s reading performance. Xiong Youping advocates, \”Parents should read with their children. Companionship is the best education, and reading is the best companionship.\”