How To Introduce Newspaper Reading Habit In Your Child?

You know how fussy children can be when it comes to learning, writing and reading. They often make excuses to get away from them and indulge in their own play. With the world rising towards technological advancements with every passing day, our little ones are only becoming dependent on technology. Their eyes are glued to screens every single day, be it for watching television or playing games on mobile phones and tablets. Reading has only become restricted to their textbooks for the purpose of achieving good grades in examination.

Children are only well versed with bookish knowledge that you sure might be proud of as a parent but that’s not enough in today’s world. The developing times have been demanding all the citizens of the world to stay updated with the happenings across the globe. Thus, you would want your child to become street smart in every way.

How Newspaper Reading Enhances Overall Skills Of Your Child?

What you can do is, get your child to read newspapers as it not only enhances the child’s knowledge about the world but also shapes his reading and writing skills as well as grammar. If your child is a fussy reader and barely manages to read his textbooks, it will be a tricky task for you to get him read a newspaper.

Obviously you cannot force him to do so which is why a few tricks will come handy. If your child has passion for sports, say football for instance, you can hand him the newspaper which has an article about the football team. This will encourage him to read about something he loves and will also grasp some knowledge on the same.

Make sure you hand over newspapers to your child instead of comics which can be enjoyed during his spare time. If newspaper doesn’t interest him then don’t worry as certain publishing houses even roll out copies of newspapers which particularly cater to the young ones.

Such newspapers are usually printed once a week which makes it possible for you to have your child indulged in this reading activity during weekends. This assures that your child’s studies won’t get distracted during the week. These newspapers are unlike the regular ones and are glossy with colourful pictures printed on them catering to every news. These features attract young readers who are to embark up on reading newspapers for the first time.

What Are The Benefits Of Reading Newspapers?

Handing over these newspapers to your child might be a stepping stone towards reading regular newspapers. Do not read to your child, but let him initiate the process while you can give him a helping hand in case he faces troubles in spelling out a few words. You must not leave your child alone when he’s reading but must sit with him and make sure he spells out every word correct and has gained proper information from the article concerned. He might be naïve to a few words in case of which you can help him out.

I still have an offline dictionary installed in my mobile phone since I love to learn new words every day. This dictionary helps me in finding the meaning of the words which I tend to note in my diary. I also try to use these learnt words in my everyday life while communicating with others. This habit will work wonders for your child as slowly he will get a good grasp on his linguistic skills. This in turn will help your child frame better sentences, thus, enhancing his overall reading, speaking and writing skills. You see how reading newspapers have so many boons for your little one?

Reading requires patience which is how your child can become patient with every passing day. Even schools these days have newspapers in their library where your child can visit during free time to catch up with some happenings around the world. This will soon become a regular habit of your child which will grow up with him.

Combining English Grammar Lessons With Newspaper Reading

Once your child has started reading newspapers, you can ask him the meaning of every new word that he comes across. If he has no clue about it, then you can proceed with the idea of installing a dictionary in your smart phone or in your child’s tablet, if he is using one. With every new word learnt, ask him to make sentences with them. If he gets it wrong, you can give him a helping hand. This practice will form a habit in your child and you will be amazed with his writing skills that will soon be free from grammatical errors.

How To Inculcate Newspaper Reading Habit In Your Child?

Here are some of the ways you can inculcate the habit of reading in your child.

1. You can start with gifting a book to your child that interests him. This book can be pictorial which will get his attention quickly.
2. Start with books and newspapers which cater to children as you don’t want to scare your child by asking him to read your newspaper which will simply leave him clueless. Since this is just the beginning and there is ample of time, you can start with the basics.
3. Do not force him to read what you want in the newspaper. You can figure out his area of interest and ask him to read that particular section.
4. Ask him to read while you sit beside him so that any mistakes can be rectified on the spot.
5. Gift your child books instead of video games and comics.
6. You can visit a library with your child and encourage him to read newspapers while also tell him to visit his school library during his free time.
7. You must be kind and patient with your child as he is a new learner and will soon catch up. Encourage him to read newspapers and magazines with you rather than leaving him alone to do so which will just bore him out.

With these tips and the kind of benefits newspaper reading has on your child, you might want to start this practice right away. Do not be harsh and rude towards your child if he doesn’t understand any particular word or term, instead help him out with it. Not just that, it has a benefit for you too as you can also catch up with new terms and words that will enhance your vocabulary too.

If you have already inculcated the habit of newspaper reading in your child then let us know about the same. We would also like to know how you got your child in to it as it might be handy for other parents.

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