Equipping young women professionals with young families to find fulfillment, contentment and joy as mothers and home makers without losing sight of who they are as women.

Volume 06, Issue 11: Read and Write with Children

Reading is an invaluable educational skill. Books help us think about our life, assist, inspire and motivate us. As we form a habit of reading, we should encourage children to acquire the discipline of reading.

In addition to reading and getting inspired by the Bible and excellent literature, we should incorporate writing as an expression of our thinking. In order to receive a progression of truth that leads to creative thought, ideas must be recorded.

As David prayed that God would show him the plans and ideas for building the temple, he began to record his thoughts and ideas. It is when he was writing that he received revelation and understanding from the Lord concerning every detail of the temple.

Reading and writing will help our children develop their reasoning abilities. Require them to read and write. When they go on a trip, they should write about the experience. When they finish a storybook, they should write about their favourite parts of the book and lessons learnt.

Our children will never do great and noble things unless they have great and noble dreams. They will never think great and noble thoughts unless they first read them. The greater the knowledge of truth, the more creative and greater our children will think and reason and aspire to acquire them.

As our children read and reflect upon the Bible and other great literature, it becomes the launching pad upon which they can dream and reach down to the wells of greatness deep within them.

Shallow literature begets shallowness. Great literature inspires greatness. Valuable books make us think – A. W. Tozer

Let’s not be among those who encourage children to read only to pass examinations. If we do this, most of them will grow up not reading serious literature unless there is an examination. Even as they mature into adults, they will read only newspapers and magazines.

Look beyond here and now. Be futuristic in what you do with and for the children in your life. Develop a reading culture in them and encourage them to view it as a hobby. Stock up on books for your children to develop their reading skills early, and by the time they join institutions of higher learning, they will have nurtured a love for books.

Stimulate the love for reading in the children in your life as a pleasurable activity. Inspire them by taking them on a book fair every now and then to pick up children storybooks, children’s magazines and textbooks. It is when reading has been sustained and developed into a habit that full benefits accrue from it.

Catch them young. Right from pre-school, help children to develop an interest in reading. Encourage them to own books, read and exchange with friends. Additionally, encourage children to form or join book clubs, and write stories.

Even for children there is always time to read. Just like adults, children are always waiting.  They can read as they wait for you to get ready, as they wait for the school bus, as they wait for their turn at the doctors, and on the ride to and from school.

The basis of our success is in what we invest time, resources and a creative reading culture in. When we direct our children to embrace these, they shall reap maximum benefits for many years to come.

Lillian Chebosi