The time that children dedicated to video game It has grown exorbitantly in the last year. A report by the consulting firm Newzoo indicates that their world consumption increased by 65% in 2020. To reduce the hours they spend doing this activity, one of the alternatives is foment his taste for books and the reading.
At the discretion of Juana Neira, director of the National Book Plan, strategies to promote reading in children they depend on their age. For the most little ones, for example, recommends that parents begin by telling them stories. The orality It is essential to generate that first approach, especially, if they do not have the habit of reading.
After telling them stories, you can continue with the shared reading between children and parents. The important thing at this stage is that the book becomes a pretext to do other activities such as playing something related to the plot of the story. Also, children can be encouraged to draw the character that caught their attention.
For the first readers, children between six and eight years old, experts recommend starting with books that contain images. Neira maintains that the best alternative for that age is the books albums because they help activate children’s senses. “The important thing,” he says, “is that they turn the book into their property. So they can go back to history as many times as they want ”.
Another option for the first readers are the classic children’s stories. For the writer María Fernanda Heredia, these books offer different readings, depending on the moment of life. “They have a lot concepts Y symbols that can be unraveled little by little, between children and parents ”.
For children between the ages of nine and 12, the dynamics change a bit. The experts recommend that they be them, according to their interests, those who choose the readings. The best thing is that, beyond the school texts, there are two or three physical books at home. Although children are more autonomous, what is essential – they say – is that they continue to be a shared activity. Parents and children can take turns reading the pages.
As with the first readers, it is important that the readings are complemented other activities, such as playing sports or cooking. Likewise, you can propose to children to write about your favorite character or a different ending to the original. It is necessary that during the day to day, parents make references to the readings carried out and that a space for reading is chosen at home.
Carolina Bastidas owns El Oso Lector, a bookstore specializing in children’s literature. She also maintains that in this process it is important the participation of the parents or of the relatives with which the child lives. Like Neira and Heredia, he assures that it is not enough that they see adults read, but that reading becomes a joint activity.
Bastidas adds that it is necessary to regenerate in children spaces of boredom. For her, this time is key for them to awaken their creativity and reflect on the readings they have done.
“It is also important that at home there is a Reading corner and that a library I agree with you interests of the children. If they don’t like novels or stories they can read comics, manga or graphic novels ”, Bastidas says about this process.
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