Why does the child insist on reading only one story?
Like every child, your hero/princess will also have a favorite storybook or book. He would have liked this book so much that he would have read the things written in it again and again. Or you might be asked to read that book to you again and again. I remember my favorite story was the story of the elephant and the ant.
This story was told to me by my aunt. Whenever I visited my aunt during summer vacations, I used to hear this story. However, after some time aunt became upset with this habit of mine. Even though I did not get bored while listening to this story, Aunt was now ready to tell it. He couldn’t understand why I wanted to hear the same story again and again. I didn’t even have the answer, but today I have it.
It is a beneficial habit for children to listen and read a particular story or book again and again. Its benefits are:
1. Their vocabulary grows
2. words are understood
3. can catch the pronunciation of words
4. understand specific patterns in things
5. Reading fluency, speaking fluency is correct
However, apart from this, this exercise also has some subtle benefits. For example, reading and listening to the same story again and again makes the child feel safe. He gets relief from reading the same pictures and words again and again and he is able to predict the events happening in them. By reading again and again, he knows about the events in advance and this increases his confidence.
Whenever he listens to that story again, he also thinks about other aspects related to that story, because he already knows the story. He is able to concentrate on words and drawings. In this process, he finds out by asking new questions.
Re-reading a story is a form of meditation for children. They already know the story, so even after getting lost in that story, the place is not unknown to them. You, the one telling them the story, are not unknown. Therefore, they are able to wander here and there with their mind in this process.
When we read a story together, our connection with our reader deepens. Perhaps this is the reason why we still love childhood stories. Reading together focuses not only on the story but also on your own understanding and conversations around it. This thing makes reading even better. According to researchers, children are able to perform better in repeated sessions of reading the story. They try harder to understand the world.
As the child grows, he runs, runs, and tries to understand his environment. The reading session creates a beautiful memory for both of you. You will always remember him asking you questions while reading or falling asleep while listening to the story. This will not seem like a task to you, but like a moment that will deepen the relationship between you two. The child will remember the bedtime stories of his childhood while sleeping for the rest of his life.
This applies to elders also. The experience of reading at the age of 40 will be completely different from that of your 20s. The meaning of the book you might have read in your 20s will change by the time you reach 40. Your experiences and ups and downs will be added to it.
There is a saying about water and books, that you can never cross the same river again and never read the same book again. Every time the meaning of the book changes, the water of the river changes. And you change.