Relaxing with a book

S

ummer and vacations are almost synonymous. Who doesn't love spending some summer time with friends? Or 'getaway' to a summer vacation destination? Well most of us do. It is a season filled with a warm rainy joy. For adults it means a break from the daily humdrum of the routine job and a time for rejuvenation. For most kids and teenagers, this is the time they have been looking forward to. 

This is the time parents can think of what their children should do instead of letting them sit on couches for long hours into television and video games. One thing I suggest is to let kids read outdoors. Join a library club and engage them in sports. Nowadays, if I may say so, every Dzongkhag has a Youth Information Centre. Not only will keeping your kids involved during the summer break keep them healthy and their minds engaged, it might also make going back to school in the fall at least a little bit easier.

A lot of their teachers will tell them it's apparent they've been reading all summer; it's very obvious that they do that because they see the gap between the children who haven't been reading all summer. It takes them a few more weeks to get on track. There is perhaps no greater avenue to learning then through reading. All people, great and small, have learned more things by reading than practically any other way. When we continue to read, we have the ability to expand our minds tremendously. We review the pages of knowledge left by those who came before us. We then begin to add to the knowledge as humanity continues. 

The vast mass of knowledge in the world can only be gained by reading, and if you want your kid to be smart, he has to acquire a love for reading. If there is one important thing that you can do to help your child become a success in school and in life - it is to encourage him to be a reader and love reading.  The most successful people in the world are voracious readers.  This is no surprise, as reading opens the door to virtually all knowledge.  Moreover, it is the path to lifelong learning.  Helping your child to love reading is one of the most important things you can do as a parent – and it will be worth your time and energy.

Your young child learns about colors, shapes, numbers, and letters, while your older child discovers an expanding chain of knowledge.  His interest in cars, for example, will expand to his interest in trucks, and other transportation like planes and rockets, and soon he will be reading about outer space, science and technology, and so forth. Your child learns early that reading is fun and not a chore. When your child grows up, you will not be stressed about getting him/her to read, as reading has become, a pleasurable habit. 

So dear parents and adults you might want to think twice before letting your child do nothing this summer.

(This article of mine appeared in K2 pullout, June 2012)