Introduction

Books play a very important role in our lives. During school days, as children, our main focus is to score as much as we could in our exams. We don’t bother too much if we are understanding what is being taught or not. As a child, we try to mug the important lessons or important questions that are going to be asked in the exams. So, how can interest in reading books be generated among children?

 But as we grow older we come to know that understanding is more important than mugging up. When you understand something, it is like an asset, which not only helps to answer questions but also give you an understanding of that very topic.

Now, there is a very common issue which arises with the children, which is, that they don’t like to read books. There can be many reasons for it like “I can watch the video and understand the subject” or “books are so boring to read”. But it is very clear that for a better understanding of a topic, you should best try to find out yourself what is its basics and how it functions.

Yes, watching videos and learning in school definitely helps. But it only adds to your understanding. Also, there will always be a time constraint as to how much can be covered. The simple question which you can ask from yourself is ‘If everything is covered in this video which is 10 minutes long, why did someone wrote 100 pages on the same issue.

What you can do as parents?

For kids

For small kids, making them read book is a very tough task. It is because they can’t understand what I have explained above. This is where you, as parents should step in and should try to make it a habit to daily make your child read at least some pages of the book. If not for 1 hour, then 30 minutes at least.

It’s as important as making a child eat food forcefully when he doesn’t want to have it. Yes, you can lure him with offers like ” I will play with you if you finish these two pages” or ” you can watch television after reading this story”.

This is done to plant in them the early seedlings of habit of reading.

For above 6th grades

For students who are classes above 6^th grade, this duration of 1 hour must be increased. Now, at this age students like to mug up the important questions and get good marks, but their understanding of why he is studying improves. Now, this is the time when you can point out the difference in learning by mugging up and learning by understanding.

Let’s see some basic points

Learning by mugging up	Learning by reading book
It is temporary which may even not last up to examination day.	It’s permanent, it will help to understand the topic.
Mugging up won’t allow you to make other people understand what you learned about a topic.	You can make other people understand that thing and clear their misconception.
When in future you come to it’s advance section, first you will have to understand its basic only then you can proceed.	As your basic understanding is clear you can understand the advance section easily.

For Intermediates, graduates and above

This is the only way forward because now you totally understand that clarity of concept is the most important aspect of understanding something.

Now even if you can attend lectures of the learned professors on that topic you have to go through a book because the syllabus is so vast which can’t be covered in lectures. You have to invest your own time reading.

At this age, students do understand that concept is the most important aspect of any topic. Clarity of thought only comes when you know what you are saying.

Also for Intermediates, graduates and above, you are now studying specialized subjects which only you have chosen based on your interests. So there is no point in lagging behind in understanding the complexity of principles given in the book

So, the above information was based on school and college books and school going students.

For better understanding of your life

Now, let’s understand the importance of reading books that aren’t in our syllabus, i.e. books which enhance our understanding of the world, our own country, and this universe.

Now curiosity drives you towards these books. Let’s understand with an example:

You somewhere read that Thomas Edison tried more than 1000 times before the got success in inventing the light bulb.

Now, here is the curiosity creeps in— Why he didn’t give up even after so many attempts?

You start to wonder that if I am assigned a task and I am unable to complete it after a few attempts, I give up? Then why he didn’t? He was also just a human being like all of us. Adding to that, there were much fewer resources available to him at that time, then what kept him going?

Now, at this point in time, you are out of your syllabus. You don’t care either about your syllabus or your subject. Your focus now shifts to know about the dedication of a person towards his work. You just want to know more about him.

Then you search his name on the web, there comes a Wikipedia page about him. Scrolling through the page, you come to know that not only the light bulb but he has also invented many devices that are of daily use to humans.

Now, when you come to know that he has 1093 US patents under his name, you are inspired to know more about him and the story behind his inventions.

In a world where most of the people are just in search of an odd job, he persisted experiment and invented new devices that nowhere around the earth had seen before.

You want to read more about him. You go to the near book shop and try to find his biography. If not found, you don’t hesitate to order it online because now he has become a university for you.

Congratulations, now you have understood the purpose of education

conclusion

This was just one of the million examples that can be given. Maybe in place of Edison, there could be anybody like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, or Albert Einstein.

Not just the biographies, it may be a past event that makes you more curious to know more. Some common examples are the evolution of computers or the history of your country.

Now that brings a complete change in your character. Now, you feel privileged to get a life as a human.

Read more : Benefits of reading books: How it can positively affect your life

also read: Indian Education System- Needs a Restart Button