The great author Anna Quindlen once wrote her thoughts about parenting and raising young adults- I forgot the verbatim statement but it all boils down to something like...
I've always thought that my children became who they were because of what I did for them. But I realized much later, that they grew up to become their true selves because they taught me a thousand times to back off and let them BE.
I was a young mother when I first read this. 10 years later the fiction became my reality...
I learned to read much earlier than going to pre-school and this started my love for reading. The first book I ever owned was The Little Mermaid (which I thought now was a bit too much for a children's fairy tale...).
I tried to get Kyla to also develop the reading habit but clearly she had other interests in mind (like singing, soccer, bike, scooter and roller skates) which rather supported her Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligent-self. I remembered Anna Quindlen so I decided not to force the issue. Which meant her grades in Reading are off than the rest. So be it.
But I was in for a surprise early this school year. They have this DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read) at school and she started to bring books at school. I also noticed she regularly borrow books from their library to take home for reading. Kyla now spends time to read books at home. One time she even read a book for her Kuya Kevin while they were hanging out together at the garden :-) Last time we went to the bookstore she asked me to buy 2 books. And another 2 for her brother.
But the biggest surprise was when we went to her school for the Parents-Teacher meeting. Posted at the door of the Learning Resource Center was the list of Top Borrowers for the Month by section... Kyla was their #1 avid book reader! No wonder I saw a different book every day in her stash!
I remembered Anna again... yep, she was right. And you can bet her Reading grades are now far better, but that's a moot point really. Reading is all about expanding your mind, seeking and finding that inspiration. At the end of the day, seeing Kyla now develop that genuine love for reading is such a great gift!
I've always thought that my children became who they were because of what I did for them. But I realized much later, that they grew up to become their true selves because they taught me a thousand times to back off and let them BE.
I was a young mother when I first read this. 10 years later the fiction became my reality...
I learned to read much earlier than going to pre-school and this started my love for reading. The first book I ever owned was The Little Mermaid (which I thought now was a bit too much for a children's fairy tale...).
I tried to get Kyla to also develop the reading habit but clearly she had other interests in mind (like singing, soccer, bike, scooter and roller skates) which rather supported her Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligent-self. I remembered Anna Quindlen so I decided not to force the issue. Which meant her grades in Reading are off than the rest. So be it.
But I was in for a surprise early this school year. They have this DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read) at school and she started to bring books at school. I also noticed she regularly borrow books from their library to take home for reading. Kyla now spends time to read books at home. One time she even read a book for her Kuya Kevin while they were hanging out together at the garden :-) Last time we went to the bookstore she asked me to buy 2 books. And another 2 for her brother.
But the biggest surprise was when we went to her school for the Parents-Teacher meeting. Posted at the door of the Learning Resource Center was the list of Top Borrowers for the Month by section... Kyla was their #1 avid book reader! No wonder I saw a different book every day in her stash!
I remembered Anna again... yep, she was right. And you can bet her Reading grades are now far better, but that's a moot point really. Reading is all about expanding your mind, seeking and finding that inspiration. At the end of the day, seeing Kyla now develop that genuine love for reading is such a great gift!
No comments:
Post a Comment