On 27 October 2021, an experience-sharing event was held under the theme “How to Make Reading a Leisure Activity for your Little One? The organiser of the activity, Nadine Mekougoum, sociologist and promoter of Harambee Africa, shared her experience on the issue on the Facebook page, Parents 2.0. She focused on her experience gained through exchanges with some families and her active participation in the Read arts workshops. She came up with a few tips that parents can use.
Firstly, she talked about the collaboration between parents, the importance of reading for pleasure for children. She then suggested that parents should have reading sessions with their children. She also thinks that parents should create reading spaces and share books to everyone in the house. She recommends that children should be encouraged especially when they come up with stories themselves and tell them with enthusiasm. Finally, she reminds us that it is important to enrol children in reading workshops.
This discussion was all the more interesting as it was in line with another theme previously addressed by the Muna Kalati association during the 3rd edition of Muna Kalati’s talks, held under the theme “How can Mothers Better Inculcate Reading in Children? At the end of the profitable discussion, the panellists had retained seven parental tips to interest children in reading:
For your children to read, start reading yourself
Arrange reading time with your child
Incorporate the gift as a reward instead of dolls, guns, etc.
Create a family mini-library and make books available throughout the house
Encourage each other with other parent readers and/or encourage your child to join a book club
Use digital or audio books for children
Be patient. Persevere. If there is a problem, verify if point 1 is being followed.
As we can see, there are many similarities between the two visions. This similarity shows that there is a real need for parents to apply these tips. The effective education of children depends on it. It is urgent for adults to take the bull by the horns and do their best to educate their children efficiently.
