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Is Your Child Reading Well?
Does your child read and how much time does he or she spend time reading in a given day?
It may appear that I’ve asked a redundant question: our children go to school don’t they? Shouldn’t they be reading something and reading enough?
Perhaps cursorily so- with the obligatory 5-10 minute “silent” reading imposed before the typical school day starts.
Apart from formalEnglish lessons where they comb through the requisite Stellar books in the classroom and the occasional series from the library, time for reading may in fact be short.
A good part of the day is easily spent clearing homework set from school, or rushing between tuition, extra-curricular classes and activities. For most, it could be hard to find downtime just to read amidst all these nagging priorities.
Has reading for pleasure become a lost art?
What really has become of it?
Reading in Jeopardy
It isn’t surprising that reading has faced some stiff competition from an onslaught of digital entertainment and the rise of smartphone use among the young.
Distractions, distractions.
The headlines are depressing and statistics don’tlie. Alarge proportion of people are preferring online pursuits to reading.
“Children’s reading shrinking due to apps, games and YouTube” a Nielson Book Survey of 2000 British children reports with a staggering 50% of family households now owning at least one tablet.
That was in 2013, mind you.
Our very own local broadsheet, The Straits Times declares a similar toil on reading: “Low reading rate: Lack of interest, time cited as factors”, according to a 2016 National Arts Council (NAC) Survey.
Of the 1,015 Singaporeans and permanent residents surveyed, 56 per cent had not read a literary book between March 2014 and March 2015. And it does not help that a large proportion of people prefer online pursuits to reading books.
So how should we encourage children to read and to be excited to do so?
ilovereading.sg Magazines
My kids have always been fairly motivated readers and manage to sneak books in between their daily routines. I do notice their preference for comics and reading magazines and they tend to pick these up and devour them easily. I believe this is true for most children.
First, these are bite-sized and colourfully illustrated. Next, they contain puzzles and activities to make reading fun!
Recently, we had the pleasure of reviewing a suite of reading magazines in that category byilovereading.sg, a Singapore-based enterprise, wherereading is regarded serious business.
With their tag line “Cultivating Minds”, the publisher hopes to partner parents in providing good content and reading material for children and young people, in hope of inspiring all to read.
Content is pleasantly packaged into assorted themes and topics that appeal to various age groups. Articles are presented in various genres and text types in bite-sized portions with huge illustrations so reading doesn’t look tedious.
Here’s what is recommended for different age groups:
1. Storytime (From 7years)
For young readers and lower primary school children, Storytime is a kids’ magazine packed with fairy tales, myths, poems – all beautifully written and illustrated, with kids activities like puzzles, games and colouring too!
Every issue of Storytime comes with five classic stories, one or two poems and an extract from a favourite children’s book.
My younger kids enjoyed the activity sections and filled those in quickly!
2. “I” (From 10years)
“I”is pitched atlearners “who have little interest in the English language, see no reason why they should mind their commas, who cannot seem to get past the first page of anything they read”.
Wow. It is hard to find a magazine catered to woo reluctant readers!
Word bank at the bottom of the story.
True to its name, ” I”, is all about the learner.
It features articles and comic strips of various sub-themes such as Chow Down (food), Line of Work (career), Music & Drama, among others.
Articles are youth-centric and deal well to serve adolescent’s growing pains: from life hacks of becoming a confident person to managing anger and stress in a smarter manner.
3. INSPIRE (From 11years)
INSPIRE is an English Language magazine targeted at young readers between the ages of 11 and 14.
This magazine hopes to present “fascinating stories, both fiction and non-fiction”.
The range is comprehensive in INSPIRE with human-interest true life accounts, to opinion pieces, travelogues, narratives and descriptive texts.
Texts are authentic and realistic with a good emphasis on general knowledge issues which promote good issues for discussion and debate!
4. iThink (From 14years)
iThinkis specially designed for the readers between ages 14 to 16 years old. iThink symbolizes the magazine’s focus on critical thinking. “Is Pop Music Trash Now?, for example, presents a critique on the pop music industry and stories provoke critical evaluation in the reader. It is good companion magazine for advanced readers in Secondary school.
iThinkwas nominated Best Educational Title in 2016 by Singapore Book Awards 2016.
Why we like ilovereading.sg magazines:
- Exposure to text types :The magazines, in particular, I, INSPIRE and iTHINK closely follow the standard and format of texts outlined in the MOE English Language syllabuses, while maintaining the quality and concept of an interesting non-academic magazine. Readers get adequate exposure to text types and writing styles, that are crucial forexpanding the breadth and depth of their language skills. If your kids, are not reading widely enough, the magazines will ensure you do.
- Engage: There is always an intention to engage the reader with post-reading activities such as language games, crossword puzzles, word search and anagrams. The ” I” also contains a generous sprinkle of spicy info bites (Now You Know), tickling brainteasers (Tease Your Brain), YouTube videos, SEL questions and word banks. Engagement in reading is essential. It allows the child to process content and reflect on their reading, making it more intentional.
- Educate: Post-reading follow up is critical and the more advanced magazines have dedicated worksheets that mirror the school exam format to provide readers with additional practice on exam-type questions that assess listening, oral, reading comprehension as well as writing skills. At the end of almost every article, there is a word bank that immediately helps the reader tune into contextual vocabulary and expand it fast and effortlessly. They also welcome student essays which are tweaked and given a makeover.
Disclosure: All views are my own. A subscription of the above magazines was sponsored for the purposes of this review.
*****
{Giveaway Alert: Get Your Free Copy of Storytime/I / Inspire /iThink Now!}
The good folks atilovereading.sg are giving away 1 FREE issue of a magazine of your choice for 20 lucky MOBM readers!
To participate in the giveaway, click here!
Terms and conditions
1. This giveaway ends on 29May 2017; 2359hrs. The winners will be randomly selected from Rafflecopter and announced on this blog post the following day.
2. Winners will be contacted via the email address provided and will have 48 hours to respond; failing which a new winner will be selected.
3. By entering this giveaway, you agree to release your email address to the sponsor for verification, contact and marketing purposes. This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook.
***All the best!!**
Congratulations to these 20 lucky readers!
1. Karen
2. Carol Mei Mei Lim
3. Robert Sim
4. Ann
5. Joyce Ong
6. Sue Tan
7. Dawn Lim
8. Shirley Chin
9. Michelle Lim Yan
10. Christy Wong
11. Jazry Chan
12. Evonne Lee
13. New Siaw Hoon
14. Jessie Lee
15. Winnie Lam
16. Rebecca
17. Angelina Joelyn Lee
18. Stephanie
19. Chua Huay Wen
20. Joanne Soh
The publisher will be contacting you shortly.
