Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Inculcating reading habit early in life

Pankaja Srinivasan

The reading club at Kikani Matriculation School in Coimbatore. — Photo: K. Ananthan

COIMBATORE: To inculcate the habit of reading books, a parent-teacher-student initiative was kicked off at Sri Baldevdas Kikani Vidyamandir, MHSS, as part of its Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Recognising `reading' as an indispensable part of a child's development, the school Principal, Hema Ravikrishnan, urged the parents to take active part in inculcating the habit in their wards.

A reading programme and a book club were launched by the school with the help of Scholastic India Pvt. Ltd, one of the world's largest publishers and distributors of children's books. At Kikani, the school library is open to parents so that they can select the books they would like their children to read.

It does not just stop at reading. Children will be asked to maintain a vocabulary book and they will learn a set of new words every week and use them in their written work. Stories will come up for discussion in the class.

Creativity in classroom

"Creativity in the classroom is what we are aiming at," says Hema Ravikrishnan, who strongly disapproves of the practice of writing questions and answers on the blackboard for children to copy down.

Grown-ups are invited to join the reading activity and read, not only to their children, but also to others in the reading club. Children are encouraged to buy at least two new books every year and share their books with those who cannot afford them.

The aim is to foster children's communication and writing skills. "It is the best legacy that you can leave for your child," says the Principal.

Schools desiring to adopt similar reading programmes can contact K. Suguna, educational co-ordinator, phone no. 9894329955, or branch co-ordinator Rupert Fernandez at 2582113 of Scholastic India Pvt. Ltd.

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