Don't stop the storytelling even as your kid grows older

The stories can be in the form of films, TV shows, music performances, theatre and more

- Jill Lim

When was the last time you sat and read a storybook with your child? If, like me, your child is older than seven, it's probably been a while.

Naturally, right? It's a relief when children reach the age when they can be left on their own to read books, watch a show, colour, play and do their homework by themselves. That frees us up to do all the things there's never enough time for, like work, chores and some leisure activities.

But you know how they seem to be young and needy, sucking up all your time - until suddenly they're not? Don't let the years go by and then realise that you haven't read a book with them for years, that you don't know what they're watching or listening to.

If your child is still in primary school, I urge you to continue reading to them. Parent-child shared book reading is said to improve a child's language skills, vocabulary and motivation to read. While I know I did spend time reading to and with my children when they were small, I wish I had done more of it as they got older.

Actually, there was a period when I read aloud to my youngest daughter at bedtime. She was then well into primary school, and so I read her parts of The Chronicles Of Narnia. She would be in bed and I would be in a chair (pretending it was a rocking chair), with only a dim light on.

Unfortunately, I did it because it helped her fall asleep, so how much she got out of it is a question mark. We also didn't keep it up. She eventually said she could sleep on her own. I easily found other things to do. And now she is in Secondary 4 and stays up later than I do.

FINDING NEW TALES