Reading is “Pleasure” not “Pressure”

I have two children – a girl (5 yrs old) and a boy (4 yrs old). I’ve been reading with them since they were 3 yrs old. I used to read with them when I was not busy or tired. I knew that reading with my children was an important thing to do. Why? I thought maybe “to train their patience”. I never took any class on how to read with them. And reading was really a burden and pressure for me.

I found reading to them every night quite stressful. I had to prepare the story and tried to memorize some sentences as to not make any mistake and then for every story that we read, I had to find “a lesson” to teach them. It was so difficult, because not every book has “a lesson” to learn. So, the frequency of my time spent reading to them each night became lessened.

But last week, I attended a read aloud workshop (“First Teachers Training”) at my children’s school; it is thanks to Percie Wong and the Bring Me A Book workshop that I’ve changed my whole attitude towards reading aloud to my children. I now understand even better why it is so important to read with my children. It is not only to “train their patience” but to help them develop their skills in comprehension, concentration and communication, expanding their vocabularies and building their self-esteem. Reading together has also created a very special bond between my children and me. This reading time with my children has helped me become a more patient and understanding mother. Reading is no longer a “pressure” but a “pleasure” for me.

Now, every evening, I will sit with my children and enjoy our story time together. I know that these 15 – 30 minutes of story time every evening are making a difference in my children’s life.

Ana, participant of Community Training Program (Po Leung Kuk Lee Siu Chan Kindergarten & Nursery