It’s (almost) never too young for books and reading, says educationist.

Did you know that you can start reading to your child as young as six months? That’s one of the insights Talk of the Town gained at the Bathurst Book Fair on Sunday, April 30.
There really was something for everyone in the family: a special programme in a tent at the Village Green kept children entertained, as the headlining speakers’ programme drew a good crowd at the Pig and Whistle.
Reading to children between the ages of 6 and 10, educationist Marion Walwyn was at the heart of the children’s programme. Walwyn taught foundation phase learners for more than 50 years. She taught at Oatlands Preparatory School in Makhanda for 17 years and she served as principal there for 11 years before retiring.
Walwyn has great love and respect for children, especially for the foundation phase age group between 5 and 10. Her mission is to get children up on their feet.
Teaching the foundation phase is more than just teaching the basics of reading, writing and maths, Walwyn says. It involves instilling confidence in children from a young age. “When you teach the foundation phase, you’re teaching confidence and belief in themselves as well as the basics of reading, writing and maths. Along with those subjects must come boosting of the child’s morale and teaching them what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s good behaviour and bad behaviour,” she said.
So when is the right age for parents or caregivers to start reading to children? According to Walwyn, this practice can start from as young as six months. “Whenever there’s an opportunity for books, I would say go for it. From really little, I would say start looking at books with children as soon as they can really look at something, so that would be about six months,” she said.
At this tender age, Walwyn says babies can be given books that are made of cloth or plastic, which would be difficult for them to ruin. “I love to see little books that are made of cloth or made of plastic that really little ones can play with and because the pages are made of cloth, it would be difficult to tear them. Plastic books are great to sit in the bath with,” Walwyn said.
Walwyn believes that birthday gifts should include educational toys as this will enable them to grow up loving reading and literature. “I believe that children should receive a book as one of their presents whenever it’s a birthday, or on Christmas. They might get a doll or a little boy might like a lorry but as well as that, they should have a book. I’ve always encouraged those who have children to do that so that the child can build up their own little library at home and have a shelf full of books,” she said.
Walwyn’s three year-old grandchild runs to go get a book as soon as she sees her. “I like to be the granny associated with books because it’s good for her,” said the loving grandma.
Tips to educators, parents and caregivers on how to start encouraging children to read
- Always have a book at hand to encourage children to love to read stories.
- Buy children presents that are educational toys i.e jigsaw puzzles that comes with a book
- Use different voice tones when reading to a child to enhance their imagination: You don’t have to stop reading to a child as they grow older, because they love to hear your voice
- Teach respect and care for books from early ages: Teach little ones how to turn pages without tearing them and ensure all the pages are nice and flat before putting the book back on the shelf
- Don’t be impatient: You need to be patient with a child who is struggling to read