Story Reading Session

One of the kids pre-bedtime routine is to have a story reading/telling session by me where JS would choose and pick her own books. She would also request/negogiate with me on how many stories she wants me to read in a night. She would usually start with the higher number.

JS: “Mummy, you read 3 stories tonight”
ME: “No, mummy tired, just ONE Short story”
JS:”Two, two then” (pointing out 2 fingers)
When I’m in good mood then I will comply. Else I would say “Mummy said ONE. Stop negogiating. Don’t be greedy else I wont read any” (Ha..bad mummy, threatening her!)

WH also loves this story telling session. Even from very young, when I’m nursing him and reading to JS, he would stop suckle and listen intensly to our conversation. Now that he’s older, when I say “Story Time” , he would drop everything he’s doing and come to me. Lately he can even go to their library to pick his own book. We have books accessible to them in a tiny library in the living room as well as the bedroom. His choice of books would be board books, books with big pictures, little words and also “Storybook for 1 year old” (He would never pick the 2 year old or the rest, as if he knows the 1 year old one is for him). He has got a special spot to sit too — ON MY LAP. JS would always sit beside me, so I can actually see her facial expression and her involvement but WH would loves to sit of my lap, back facing to my chest and I can’t see his facial reaction. Even when he’s far away, he would drop all the things, climb up the bed, and walk to this special spot. I tried to let him sit on the other side of me, but he would crawl to my lap.

Last night, I wanted them to finish their milk first before I start reading to them. But upon hearing the word “Read story”, WH quickly let go his milk bottle, went to the shelf and picked up the 1 year old story book.

I said: “OOh… you have choosen this book. OK , mummy will read later, but you have to finish your milk first”
He didn’t want his milk, and keep handing the book to me, then
I said ” OK, we will wait for Che Che to finish milk first”
JS protest :” No, I don’t want didi’s story book. I want a Long long story. You read to didi first, then after I finish milk , you read another long long story for me”
(arrgh…lazy me, don’t want to do double work)

At last , JS choosen a book with lot of words. WH doesn’t know how to protest, as long as there is someone reading story, he’s happy and content, no matter what book is it.

The way I read a story book to my kids is that I first find out what’s the storyline and then I re-tell the story with action and expression instead of reading it from word to word. Because this is the way I remembered my mum doing it when we were young. And also for young children, they will look at the picture more than the print, they would think that adults are actually reading the picture rather than the words when we read to them. Also I would like to cultivate the interest of books in them by making it interesting and exciting rather than boring plain tone reading so that they would pick up a book and read by themself when they are ready and become literate at their own pace. I tried a different approach a few times by just “READING” to them (really reading from words to words) hoping that JS might pick up a few words from here and there, though it’s just a short paragraph, they lost interest very fast and demand for another story. So it’s back to story telling instead of story reading again. Anyway, I remember my mum read to us until we enter secondary school. Though at that time we could already read very well, but we still enjoy the story telling sessions. And I also remember our little library at home. We loves book, beside my dad and my mum’s books, we have a huge collection of children books. Dad has this designated cupboards for us for our books. I’m the “librarian” for English and Malays story books and my bro took charge of the Mandarin ones. We would compete to see you can maintain the neatess place (my bro’s usually a mess) I would love to inherit all this books but they are still my mum’s treasure that she would not part now, she still uses it with her students. Maybe, maybe when we move to our own place 2 years later, I can get mum to hand me down all these books.