(10) Books piled up from around age 5 were the shortest route to becoming a 'child who reads' - To the mom I met 10 years ago -

　The letter continues.

“Building a habit of 'reading' with books at home before getting hooked on digital devices”

…is what I am talking about.


・Click here for letter (9).
(9) Books piled up from around age 5 were the shortest route to becoming a 'child who reads' - To the mom I met 10 years ago - | Emi Suzuhara (note.com)

　
　Today is

“While the 'child who reads' is awakening, if you can hand them the 'next book' while the iron is hot, they will continue to become a 'child who reads' more and more...”

is the topic.

　　Now, for my eldest daughter who had read through the 'Milky Sugiyama, You Are a Detective' series, I prepared a 'next-level book' without a break so that her reading switch wouldn't turn off.

　People often say, “Strike while the iron is hot.” right?

　When a child learns something physically, I think this is exactly it.

　Handing them a book that they can “still enjoy reading” while the excitement of “it was fun to read” hasn't cooled down yet.

　However, I thought it was important to prepare “a book where the font size (smallness) and amount of text have stepped up 'a little'.”

　By the way, during this period, since her “favorite genres and tendencies” became clear, we temporarily graduated from going to the library.
　Of course, we could have continued to look for the “next book” at the library, but I had decided that I would “buy” the next book.

　Now, the next book. Ideally, it would have been best to choose it together with my child, but I felt that the time spent going back and forth was a waste, so I looked at online reviews and bought one book that I thought, “How about this?”

　What I chose was the first volume of a series called “Science Detective Nazono Shinjitsu”, “Science Detective vs. The Seven Mysteries of the School” (Written by Midori Sato, Koji Ishikawa, Rima Kitaki, Tomoaki Tanaka / Illustrated by Kigi / Asahi Shimbun Publications).

　It is a story where a genius boy, Shinjitsu Nazono, whose motto is 'There is no mystery that cannot be solved by science,' solves mysterious puzzles with his friends.

　—This is also incredibly fun!

　The reason I had a certain degree of confidence that my eldest daughter would read it was because of the library visits we spent months on.
　I knew her tendencies and favorite genres, and I also felt a connection because this “Nazono Shinjitsu” series had
the same structure as the “Milky Sugiyama, You Are a Detective” series, divided into an 'Incident Chapter' and a 'Solution Chapter'.

　Not limited to reading, I think the trick when a child advances to the 'next stage' is to proceed while confirming the 'commonalities with the previous stage'.
…

　For children's books, for example,
“the font size and amount of text are about the same, but the content is a little more difficult,” or conversely,
“it's a similar story, but there is more text,” or
“the content and amount of text are about the same, but there are fewer illustrations,”

…I think it is effective to create a mechanism where they grow little by little.

　By the way, the “Science Detective Nazono Shinjitsu” series has smaller text and more volume compared to the “Milky Sugiyama, You Are a Detective” series, so actually, from any point of view, it felt like it
jumped up about two levels at once. 　…So, it seemed unlikely that the child would mistake it for a picture book, but since she had already grasped the feeling that “reading is fun!”, I felt it would be okay.

　Regarding this, I trusted
the content of 'having fun solving mysteries' and the commonality of the structure divided into 'Incident Chapter and Solution Chapter'.
　 　—Yes, trust is also important when it comes to books.

　　In any case, this book (Nazono Mami) with its 'black text on white paper, written vertically'—even if you flip through the pages, from a child's perspective,
　the appearance of the book is almost no different from a typical novel—that's the impression they get.


　—Even so, the reason I was able toinstantly boost her confidence to the point where she could 'read it!'
was undoubtedly because I had inserted the 'Milky Sugiyama, You Are Also a Detective' seriesbetween this and the picture books she had read until then.

　This is the power of taking steps... I think.
　Well, I wonder how it will go, my eldest daughter... I handed it to her, and it was a huge success.

　It seems she enjoyed chasing the mysteries with the young protagonists, and she was able to read through it smoothly.

　—I'm so glad!
　

　This series has plenty of illustrations and diagrams of the tricks (scientific explanations), satisfying the joy of looking at them as well. At the time, about 5 volumes had been published, and urged on by my eldest daughter saying, 'This is interesting!', I bought the whole set.

　And when my eldest daughter became a second grader,by the time she finished reading all the 'Nazono Mami' series available at the time, 'reading text' had become a habit, and I also grasped the feeling that 'she seems able to read most children's books now...'.

　Of course, during that time, I also regularly prepared books of various genres suitable for her age (stories, illustrated encyclopedias, quizzes, fortune-telling, etc.) for when she thought at home, 'I wonder if there are any books I haven't read...'

　Regarding this method of never letting books run out in the house... I think it's good to make great use of the three: new bookstores, used bookstores, and libraries, but I'll talk about this later.

　—And, at this point, I felt like there wasn't much more I could do as a parent, butI still wasn't quite convinced.

　No, what was I not convinced about?

　That is, how should I put it—


　'With this, the child has now come to love books'

'She will now choose and read them herself without me saying, "Why don't you read this? Why don't you read that?"'—is that the conviction?.

　I had been wondering for a long time, for some reason, what it would be like if there were a moment whena child truly 'becomes a book lover'—what would that be like? For many years.


　—I want to know not just from the behavioral aspect, but from the psychological aspect.

　I think it's a strange quest even for myself, but perhaps it was because I am interested in 'psychology, mystery solving, children, and books'.

　And when my eldest daughter was in the fourth grade, I felta moment that could be called one answer.

　—The trigger was one year before that, when my eldest daughter was in the third grade, I recommended the 'Harry Potter' series (written by J.K. Rowling / translated by Yuko Matsuoka / Say-zan-sha) from my own collection.

　It was perfect for her age, andI wanted my own child to experience that excitement...so I recommended it, but to tell the truth, at this time, my eldest daughter stopped reading around the first chapter of the first volume.

　To borrow her own words, 'The protagonist is always being bullied at his relatives' house, and the names of the streets are unfamiliar, so I couldn't read it happily...'—that's what she said. It seemed it was painful for her.

　I was a little disappointed, but I thought, 'I see, I see...', andwithout forcing her, I left it on the bookshelf, and a year passed just like that.

　And so,from that time on, 'Harry Potter' became for my eldest daughter
'a book that is in the house, but it's fine whether I read it or not'—in other words, a book piled up (tsundoku).

　In the end, I think this was good.


　The following year, when she became a fourth grader, my eldest daughter said to me at one point, 'Mom... I think I'll try reading that one again' andshe took out the first volume with her own hands and started reading it.
　

It seems that a year of growth brought something to her.

She told me later,
'You know, once you read the first chapter of the first book, you just can't stop from the second chapter on!' and so...

And so, for the next three months, my eldest daughter didn't take a single day off (?), continuing to read Harry Potter after school, before bed, and on weekends, until she finally finished the entire series.

The 'Harry Potter' series, counting the split volumes from the fourth book onwards, is a massive epic of 11 volumes in total, where various mysteries are revealed in each book, and all of them become intricate foreshadowing in one long, long story.

One night, after finishing the final chapter of the second part of the seventh book, and sitting in a daze for a while, she said, 'Harry... you did it! You did it!!'

When I saw my eldest daughter's face as she jumped on the sofa, half-crying, I realized something.

Ah, maybe this is what it's all about...

To become a 'child who reads,'


that means the child's own heart is convinced that 'books are something that will entertain me.' Isn't it about building a relationship of trust with books?

Reading long stories, in particular, takes a fair amount of mental and physical energy, even for adults who love books.

Even so, there is a sense of wonder waiting at the end of what you read, and the realization that reading is something worth believing in...
might be what makes a person love books.

And in our family's case, 'books kept on hand' that the child could pick up at their own timing were very helpful.

In letter (2),
I mentioned that my eldest daughter became a book lover through my guidance, while my second daughter became one naturally through books kept on hand... but
looking back, I think that even for my eldest daughter, I only provided the trigger, and it was the presence of those books on hand that provided the final touch.

--What if, when my eldest daughter was in third grade and couldn't read Harry Potter, I had been disappointed and put the books away, sold them, or returned them if they were borrowed?

She might have grown up just like that, and might have even forgotten that I had ever recommended books to her.

It is wonderful to have books in the house.
Even if you don't know if they will read them at the time, having books in the house creates a bond between the child and books.

--That is what I believe.

Now, next, I would like to talk specifically about what it means when 'the text gradually gets smaller...'

The letters continue.

〈Fantasy books your future self might read, waiting for that moment in the corner of the bookshelf〉

・Click here for letter (11).
(11) Books bought and left unread since around age 5 were the shortest route to becoming a 'child who reads' - To the mom I met 10 years ago - | Emi Suzuhara (note.com)


・Click here for letter (1).
(1) Books bought and left unread since around age 5 were the shortest route to becoming a 'child who reads' - To the mom I met 10 years ago - | Emi Suzuhara (note.com)