When reading becomes a culture!

The love of reading is a blessing that is not given to many people; especially reading books. However, it is common nowadays that reading from different sources is becoming a habit for people of different ages. Reading books, newspapers, magazines, novels or even e-books on mobiles or computers stands as a must-to-do daily task for lot of people. Despite the addiction to modern technology and social media, they never quit their habit of starting their day with reading.

Are you among those reading enthusiasts who regard reading as daily habit; they never skip a day without reading a few pages at least! Their life is meaningless without the blessing of a book being kept in their cars, bedrooms, offices. Always book lovers never go to bed alone; it is just books that make their day. Probably, they believe in the saying, “Let books be your dining table, and you shall be full of delights. Let them be your mattress, and you shall sleep restful nights”.

That is why the biggest pleasure comes from what we read, not from on what we read. It has been said that there is a great difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and the tired man who wants a book to read. The real difference lies in our attitude towards reading!

As reading unquestionably marks a valuable habit to youngsters, it should not be disconnected from children’s life as well. If we, as adults, missed the chance somehow, reading should be accorded a priority as a daily habit for children. Reading habit should be started since their early school days, so they get used to it as they grow up. Hence, reading would unconsciously become a habit, which they like, enjoy and long for with no pressure put on them.

Starting the mission of making reading as a habit for children is really difficult, but gradually it will take their way to their heart. We can succeed in this mission if reading is accompanied with some kind of fun. Reading for fun is a good way to encourage kids enjoy it, so it becomes a habit later on. It should first start with easy material like reading comics, short stories and kids’ magazines, so they don’t get bored with what they read.

Besides, they should not be forced to read for certain period of time. Let kids limit their time and interest of how much time they take or how much they read. They could be also attracted to reading by taking them to book fairs or bookstores every now and then. This possibly marks a good approach to teach students and children the value and significance of reading. Book fairs are actually regarded one of the most significant cultural phenomena happening in the Sultanate of Oman, which should be well invested in.

Getting children to the fair is an efficient dose of encouragement for them; allow them to choose the books and stories they like. Through such experience, teachers and parents alike could urge children to love reading and make it a habit. It is very thrilling to see individuals, parents and groups of school students visiting book fairs. Purchasing books is always good; definitely they will be of real value and good use for the whole family someday sooner or later.

On top of all this, let us think aloud and evaluate ourselves; Are we real readers? Are we reading enough? In other words, how much we care about reading as parents, students or professionals? You see people of different ages in book fairs and at book stores grabbing books, stories, references and other educational material, but do they read all of these? On the other hand, how much we are investing in children to develop good readers?! Overall, is reading becoming a habit in our life; a question we all need to think about!