So,
some good news! We recently introduced ‘News Hour, a dedicated newspaper
reading session, at our preschool, Kangaroo Kids Kandivali (E) from Nursery
onward. It is now an early morning ritual after the assembly, where young ones form
circles and read from their Times NIE newspaper (news published for children). Many
people, including educationists have since asked us the reasons we decided to
do so and how do we go about it…Whether we have indeed observed benefits. The
answer is a resounding YES!
Reading
News has always been an integral part of our curriculum in Sr. KG and being
convinced of its benefits, we decided to initiate it from nursery onward. While
Senior Kindergarteners manage to read from their copies, Junior Kindergartners
are told the important news concerning education and environment. Nursery
students point to words that they are aware of and the Teacher discusses
environmental issues with them. Parents have welcomed the initiative and have
been active collaborators in reading the copy and discussing it with their
children at home.
Being
introduced to news at such an early age has myriad benefits and here are some
key ones -
1.
Engaged Awareness – Not only are children made aware of
happenings and events around the world, thereby increasing their general
knowledge, but they are also made to reinforce concepts through activities with
the newspaper. At our preschool, children are made to cut out large letters of
the alphabet, find differences in images, name monuments, places and familiar personalities.
We firmly believe that reading News should be an integral part of the preschool
curriculum.
2.
Forging Identity and Communication - Through age-appropriate news children learn
to form opinions which also helps them encounter their identity and
importantly, communicate it uninhibitedly. We continue to be surprised with
their perception levels and their acute insight to some burning issues. These
lessons remain with them and they take it forward in their everyday interactions
with family, peers and others.
3. Community –
For a pre-schooler, life is much about ‘Me’.
While it is important to let that feeling flourish and aid ways for them to
become independent and learn to find their voice, it is equally important to
let them feel a part of the world – that they belong and that they are
accountable. We have run some amazing community and environment driven
campaigns backed by the keenness of our children.
4. Novelty
– Reading from a newspaper encourages a pre-schooler to tap a novel reading avenue
apart from storybooks and the usual reading assignments to build vocabulary,
sentence building. Picture talk is very important and some photos in newspapers
are award-winning pieces of art which depict a thousand words. The best part is
that children are open to interpret the photo in their own way and that also
communicates a lot about them. Children also love the cartoon characters and occasionally
come up with their own story or characters! Of course, care must be taken to
ensure that the content is age-appropriate and doesn’t delve on gloomy,
negative events/happenings.
5.
Better listeners and readers – The most evident benefit remains
remarkably improved reading and listening skills. We have observed that
newspaper reading has aided in taking reading skills of children to another
level altogether. Even the way newspapers are read or read to is very different
from the usual reading style and parents would also do good to inculcate the habit
of reading to the children. It is important to read to while also listen to the
child’s views patiently, taking cues from his/her interest levels and using
this opportunity to communicate most engagingly.
So,
grab that newspaper today and read to your child. Keep it fun. Prepare to be
surprised as they unravel the world and attempt to colour it with their hues –
who knows even you may learn a thing or two!
