Category: Mindset

What makes children love reading?

1/10/2018

When you request to join Raising Biliterate Children one of the questions is “What’s your biggest challenge with your child’s literacy?” Many parents say it is to find a balance between languages, others say they don’t know how to start teaching their child to read in the minority language. And many others say that they don’t know what to do to motivate their child to read more and to like reading.

So I’ve been meaning to create something to help you with that. I’m a teacher and one of the proudest moments of my days is to see children immersed in a book, recommending it to their friends and begging me to go to the library and choose a new one.

But that’s not true for every child. Some children just don’t love reading and it’s absolutely fine. They’d rather play a game, draw a picture, craft, be outdoors, watch a movie, chat with their friends, practice sports.

But why don’t they enjoy a good book?

Maybe they haven’t found the right ones for them.
Maybe they’re struggling to read fluently.
Maybe it hasn’t been a habit.
Maybe they’re too distracted or too busy.
Or maybe they just don’t love it.

Did you love reading when you were their age? Do you now?

I love reading. I can’t go two days between books. I’ve been like that since I can remember. And it’s still hard for me to extricate myself from all of the busyness, tiredness, distractions. I need to actively carve time out of my days and add purpose to my reading.

Even if your children hate reading and you respect that, you’ll want to encourage them to read more.

Why?
It increases their vocabulary, knowledge and understanding.
It increases empathy, imagination and confidence.
It helps them navigate the world we live in.
It can help them cope with difficult moments and emotions.
It’s a calm and safe space.

How?

A quick Google search will show you many different versions of “18 genius ways to make your kids love reading” as well as “8 ways parents discourage their kids from reading”. You’ll read them, nod all the way, finish your coffee and carry on with your day. Am I right?

No matter which tips you follow, remember this:

It’s about joy and wonder.
It’s a daily choice.
It’s about making space and time for it.
It’s about connecting.
It’s immersing ourselves in the world of stories. Spoken, written or otherwise recorded.

Oh, but I promised to create something to help you with that!

Here it is: an email challenge that’s doable, efficient and free!

7 emails
immediate action
28 days
self-paced
support group

I'm in!

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Growth Mindset in your bi-literate home

7/3/2018

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If you’re like me and you love reading articles about how to best educate your children, you might have come across the concept of growth mindset.

No idea what I’m talking about?

Growth mindset is the belief that you can learn and improve your abilities through practice. People who have a growth mindset don’t see mistakes as failure but as an attempt at learning. They are resilient and they will try again, try harder or try a different way until they achieve a goal.

People with a fixed mindset on the other hand, believe that you’re either good or bad at something, that intelligence is something innate and can’t be changed. When they make mistakes they get discouraged and tend to give up.

Encouraging a growth mindset is especially important for school children, so that they understand that learning is a process and that everyone has their own rhythm.

If you’re trying to raise a bi-literate child you might have heard - or said it yourself:
“I’m bad at reading.”
“I’ll never be able to read as well in English as I do in…”
“Maybe reading is just not her thing.”
“I’ve never been a reader either.”
“Reading in a second language will just confuse him.”
“We’ll just stick with one language instead.”
“I’m not a teacher, I can’t do anything to help.”
“She struggles, so now she hates reading.”
“Teaching them to read in a second language is too much of a chore and they resist it.”

If you want to cultivate growth mindset in your home, start by adopting the mantra “Not yet”. Whenever your child says “I’m not good at this”, reply “Well, not yet, but you’re learning.”

When you think “This is not going well, I have no clue what I’m doing”, try thinking “How can I figure this out? Who can I ask for help?”

The way you praise them has tremendous impact on how they behave. “Oh, you’re so clever” or “You’re a natural, like daddy” tells them that they were just born like that, no effort involved. When they struggle and make mistakes they’ll feel like they’ve failed and that they’re not as clever as you thought.

Instead, praise their hard work, their improvement, creative thinking or willingness to try. Make sure they understand that their brains are growing and need time to make new connections. Talk about times when you learned to do something new and difficult. Talk about their favorite athlete or actor and how they had to overcome barriers.

Success comes with resilience and hard work. Reading and writing well (especially in more than one language) takes time and consistent practice.

Check out:
Mindset, by Carol Dweck and her TED talk on The Power of Believing That You Can Improve

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I'm Ana - a teacher who loves reading, writing, traveling and nature.

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