CHENNAI: For most bookworms, summer holidays mean getting their hands on the latest books, finding a cosy corner of the house, and spending hours reading and building a world of their own. Lakshmi Vikram also spent every holiday in her room with a dictionary, thesaurus, and a book. Now, a mother who homeschools her daughter Vania Vriksha, she passed on this trait early on to her daughter, to whom she began reading to even before she was a toddler. To inculcate reading habits at an early age in other children, and initiate them into the world of books, Lakshmi has started Beyond Books a Centre for Early Learning. The reading space, located in Adyar, was launched on the day of Vijayadasami and caters to children aged 5 to 10.
Most of our early memories of listening go back to our parents and grandparents narrating a story; of speaking goes back to calling out our family members; of reading is picking up short stories, and writing by scribbling on a paper. It is only through these four methods — Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing (LSRW) — that a child develops language skills.
Over the years, as our lifestyles changed, the norms changed too. A survey conducted by Annual Status Education Report (ASER) 2022, concludes that the reading ability has ‘worsened’ among the children within the age group of 3 to 16. “A grade five student is only able to read a grade one book,” says Lakshmi, an interior designer by profession and a homeschooling mom by passion. With her initiative, she wishes to fill this reading gap.
On a reading journey
Apart from reading a book, or even a paper, it is also the environment that adds to the experience and makes us to want to come back to our reading space. Beyond Books is designed in such a way that it allows the children to have an environment where they can learn and evolve. “The space provides a privileged environment where the kids are exposed to printed books, audiobooks, a pleasure reading corner, and a few activities that keep the child engaged and choose what they want to do in that particular hour,” says Lakshmi, who has a home library.
The one-hour session held every Saturday and Sunday, will expose the children to phonics, initially. “The classes will not be a basic, learn-your-alphabets, but it will be helping the children learn phonics so that they can read words and sentences eventually,” says Lakshmi, adding that there are at least 44 and more groups of alphabet sound. A strong foundation for blending sounds will make it easy for the child to read harder and bigger words.
The books are chosen based on the children’s reading ability level. Laskhmi offers three levels. Read alone — where the child reads a book alone; Read Along — where the book is read by a group of children; Guidance Reading — where the child reads the book under Lakshmi’s guidance, Audiobooks — where an audiobook is played and the kids run their fingers along the lines in the book. The books chosen are from Indian publishers like Tulika, Karadi Tales, and others who publish children’s books. Soon, books by international authors and publications will also be included in their roster.
Lakshmi also plans on bringing in authors either online or in-person to the venue, so that the children can interact directly with the brain behind the books. “Children should know who, why, when, and how a book was written. This will also, in a way, appeal to the children to read more,” notes Lakshmi, who will also recommend a set of books to be read at home because she believes that a child should read every day.
Besides the weekend sessions, she also intends to take the children to a public library every Thursday, where she plans to indulge in activities like book hunting, and cataloguing with the help of the librarian. Lakshmi adds, “I will teach them the parts of the book, tell them to pick up a book and based on the author, and teach them the library rules as well.”
Government school teachers can also book a session for their students at this space or invite Lakshmi for an interaction in the school where she can take them to their own school library and educate them.
Of patience and support
Growing up an avid reader, Lakshmi understood the importance of reading and how it is a tool to make one confident. She used the same method to raise her child, as well. “I read to my daughter starting very early. I remember, when she was three years and seven months she started reading books on her own. By age five, she completed reading The Famous Five and The Secret Seven novels.”
Lakshmi does not want other children to be left behind in this highly competitive world where self-learning is a priority now. “This is a very niche segment and a slow process. It will take time to see the effects, but even if one kid can read, I will be happy,” shares Lakshmi, requesting the parents to join her on this journey.
For venue details, contact Lakshmi at 9884602308
Instagram @beyondbooksearlylearningcentre
Fee: 8 Classroom sessions: Rs 4,000; 4 Library sessions: Rs 3,000. Vijayadasami offers Rs 500 off on both courses.
Time slots: 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm and 3.30 pm to 4.30 pm with six children per session.