My child is in Primary Two but he reads books like a candidate. He usually reads past midnight. Won’t it affect him in future?

Rachel

Dear Rachel,

Although your child’s age, class and reading hours don’t ordinarily match with the respective objective of intensive reading, a vast mass of knowledge in the world can only be gained by reading. Therefore if you want your child to be smart, he has to love reading at an early age.  Imagine some learners regard reading as last resort option when boredom is at its highest, yet your young child finds it exciting. It is good for him because he is developing a positive attitude towards reading as he grows up. This helps calm him especially when he is fretful and restless.

Students who love learning and do well in school in most cases were exposed to reading at an early age. If your child learns the basics of reading a book at an early stage, it will help him develop a longer attention span which is an important skill. Books teach your child about relationships, situations and personalities while fantasy books provide material for his imagination and free play to distinguish between what is real and abstract in the world he lives in. 

 However, it’s also dangerous to overdo it (reading) because it can lead to stress which is the last thing a child wants to experience. Talk to your son and help him to work with a timed goal in mind.  Set a time limit for him that he’ll stick to and once the time is up, he must stop working and find something else to do. While there is no optimum amount of revision time, it’s meaningless to start tiring himself greatly up to midnight because at this point especially given his age and class, it’s no surprise the mind starts wandering and automatically switches off.

 So the time spent reading should be well managed because that is just one element in his life.  The sooner he’s helped to understand this, the better for him.

The writer is a counsellor

YOUR ADVICE

Gorret Munyana, student        

An early bird catches the worm. Let your child read hard right from the start because it will teach him to be hard working. When we were still in school, we used to see how our serious friends used to excel during exams. They were very confident.

Joseph Miiro, teacher

You are blessed to have a child who loves books. You should endeavour to provide him with lots of food and drink to keep him going. Also look at his performance in class to see if it matches his input.

Martin Nyarwaya     

That kind of reading is not good for a child of that age. Children need to have enough rest in order to grow well. If you don’t control your child, he will get fatigued and lose interest in studies.

Sebastian Kalambizi 

What’s wrong with being focused at a tender age? Don’t get worried about your child’s love for reading because it will be very helpful in future. You should instead buy him more books.