Lone Parent’s and Reading.
November 9th, 2008Reading is great! I remember reading from an early age – newspapers, books, the dictionary (yes the dictionary!) and was thoroughly encouraged by my mother. I remember reading the newspaper when I was 4 years old and being totally captured by various articles and I’ve been an avid reader continuously through my life.
Books are a great escapism. They can take you away to a place that you wish to be, give you great knowledge on various subjects and help you with your own personal development. Anything you need to know, want to be or want to achieve, there is a book out there waiting to show and teach you.
Like my mother, I have always encouraged my daughter to read. From being a baby I took her to the library every week and would read to her as well as participate in all of the activities that were on for mothers and babies. Just like me, she has a great love affair with books and was able to read extremely well by the age of 4.
We still share the activity of books together: monthly visits to the library and book stores to acquire new literature. She gets tremendous pleasure in ordering a book and will take it every where with her until she has finished reading it.
Books though are meant to be shared. What point is there in having great information and not passing on that knowledge so someone else benefits from it? I regularly do this for my friends and family as what ever struggle or help they need, you can guarantee I know or have a book that can help them along in their journey.
As a parent, it is vital to not only teach your children to read but also the importance of why. Children can benefit so much (see this week’s article) and as it is a solitude activity; reading can be personal to them. It gives them choices. It helps them to be aware, it develops their knowledge of words, grammar and punctuality and above all reading helps them to be creative and develop their imagination.
So this week, visit a library – it’s free to join and there are also so many other things you can loan: DVD’s, magazines, videos, etc. You also get to meet new people and find out what is going on in your local community.
Take some time out for you to get a really good book you wish to read and have some quality time with yourself. Reading doesn’t have to cost a thing but can bring you real peace and pleasure. Go with your children and make a morning or afternoon of it. You will probably be surprised and once you start, you will wonder how you ever coped without a great book by your side.
xVx


