analysis Voices
As a child, I loved reading. As a parent, here’s how I’m teaching my kids to love it too
In Ms Kelly Ang’s household, books are the default mode of entertainment for her and her five kids. She shares how reading has become part of her family culture.
From there, I travelled the globe and other universes. I went back in time to the Crusades and far into the future on spaceships bound for other stars. I befriended ethereal creatures, fought vampires and escaped zombies – all through the pages of my books.
I read everything and anything in front of me, from brochures and menus to even the nutritional information on food packaging. Nothing was too boring for my hungry eyes.
My reading habit shaped my personality growing up and continues to influence the way I parent. My husband and I want our kids to not only read, but to enjoy it the way we did as children – and still do as adults.
The 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study by the Ministry of Education found that Singapore students are the top readers in the world, but they are also deriving less enjoyment from reading over the years.
In the last decade, Singapore students who reported “enjoying reading a lot” fell from 60 per cent in 2011 to just 51 per cent in 2021.
