Reading: Paving their way in the world

So after the overwhelming response I have had to my first post announcing my journaling, I have to admit I was suffering from a chilling bout of cold feet. I wasn’t sure whether what I shared would be of benefit, even though others might expect it to be so.  But then I thought that’s exactly it. We live in a time where the social media world has yanked up expectations of a picture perfect life in every sphere – when in reality we all have good days, bad days, memorable days and ones we just want to slip out and escape from. If through sharing my journey in raising my children, with all its warts and blemishes, I can encourage others to see we are all human – what is most important is how we persist – then it will be worth it. In sha Allah.

In line with the topic of pressure and expectations, I will admit my first one. I assumed that my first post should be about the big reasons and theories of why I chose homeschooling. But time is ticking. Today I’m tired after a long day and you know what, I’m going to park it for another day when some more of my brain cells are energised. And it’s my blog, so hey, I can make the rules! So apologies if that’s what you were waiting for, but I will kindly request some more of your patience on that one.

But there is something substantial I do want to write about today.

I was reminded by a sister I went to visit yesterday, as we were speaking of how to develop your children’s English skills, how important reading is. And look – I’m an English Literature graduate, so I more than anyone, know that to be true. But like many things, you let what you already know drift to the back of your mind sometimes because of what you see around you.

Recently, I became a bit obsessive with getting S and Y to do lots of English worksheets/workbooks. Grammar, spelling, vocabulary all in the hope of developing  their English. But I was reminded again of how artificial sometimes that process can be. They do a sheet of spelling or a page of vocabulary for the sake of it, and by the next week it’s all drifted out of their brains, as it was all out of context anyway.

However when you read a book you enjoy, you are engaged in the content, you are personally committed to understanding the meanings of words, to follow the plot/information, so you are self-driven to understand vocabulary and are more conscious of the spelling that you are seeing. Punctuation and grammar is endlessly modelled far more effectively and naturally this way, than mummy’s crummy artificial sentences on the whiteboard.

I always knew this fact, but in my mad rush to do what I saw others do around me, I forgot and also I let my confidence go too. But my gut feeling has always been, if I can get them to read a range of books that push their English skills, that should do alot more than endless workbooks.

The problem recently however, has been I have just left it to them to find their own books at the library. But I know I need encourage them to read some more of the classics which contain a wider range of vocabulary to achieve this.

So this morning, instead of getting out their English books I announced – let’s read. The thought of not having to drag through another exercise was clearly thrilling and we agreed, they would read to me on more of a regular basis (instead of just being left to get on with it themselves, usually before bed). Additionally we would go over the definitions of words they didn’t understand as they went along. S read a chapter of ‘The Secret Garden’ we picked up at the library – we read half of this book as a family together about a year ago but for some reason stopped. So thought would be good to return to it.

Y read a chapter of ‘Danny the Champion of the World’ to me. I don’t then know what happened – but later they all got their books out and spent ages reading whilst I was cooking dinner. Y finished ‘James and the Giant Peach‘, which had been sitting on his bed for a while now, waiting to be completed. And I think he benefitted from the idea of going over words he didn’t understand as he underlined them with a pencil whilst reading; and I then explained them to him (after he had finished, mind – I had too much going on in the kitchen to be able to turn away from the cooker).

I have to say I make intermittent dua about this issue (probably not enough) – of nurturing a habit/love of reading in my children as I have to admit, they aren’t extremely dedicated readers, and it’s often on and off.

But it is such a big issue for me because, wider than just English skills, I do believe that a commitment to reading opens up a lifelong path in a person, that nothing else can. Reading will unlock chests of knowledge, that lies dormant for others who see books as a burden. This is in both the knowledge of the dunya, as well as the deen. I have seen too much how an inability to read persistently, affects one’s capacity to become more learned across the board.

So really, I do unashamedly declare it is the most fundamental skill and habit we need to nurture in our children.  Not force in them (as it will just turn them away) but I do believe in trying to build a love and habit – so they are motivated to get on their own reading journey, to last inshaAllah for the rest of the lives.

The evening today then ended with the boys pulling out all the books we own on the human body and perusing each one over dinner. At this point, I went into the kitchen, thanked Allah for answering my dua and made a little yelp for joy. Alhumdulilah! Please pray it continues!

Please like ‘The Homeschool Diaries’ Facebook page, to stay updated with all future posts.