Happy to write this guest post for Mary Hill of Mary-andering Creatively . I feel very grateful to her for this wonderful opportunity. Also feel very much excited to have this first Literacy Musing Mondays Joint Link Up Party. Thanks Mary for your support and encouragement.

Will Mindful Reading Help Kids To Concentrate?

Mindfulness is a buzzword these days. From mindful eating to mindful parenting, mindful walking to mindful talking is the getting viral these days.

Mindfulness is about focusing on whatever is happening moment-by-moment without being judgmental. In mindfulness meditation, you actively choose to control where your mind goes. It’s simply focus on the present and not worrying about the past or dreaming about the future.

Buddhism teaches to meditate all day–throughout all your daily activities. do all activities in a day mindfully and when become aware that you are not into present, take a deep breath and come back to your present and continue.

We can also encourage kids to be more mindful in all activities they do. They have to get the idea of being present and how it can help to deal with stress and improve concentration.

Developing mindfulness in kids leads them to success in life. The simple benefits of mindfulness are more connection to themselves, more thoughtful with their actions, and better regulation of their emotions and behavior. Mindfulness teaches them to take a deep breath when things get tough, and deal with life one breath at a time.

Mindful Reading

When kids are not doing mindful reading, then they lack concentration. They get bored. They will get more distracted. So let us explore the ways to introduce Mindful Reading into your kids.

These are the prompts that readers are struggling to concentrate:

• The voice of the reader gets monotonous without feelings or emotions.
• The reader can no longer visualize the images of his reading.
• The reader’s mind begins to wander.
• The reader cannot remember or retell what has been read.
• The reader is not able to answer the questions.
• The reader cannot correlate the characters.
• The reader won’t move forward in reading.
• The reader wants to move away from reading like going to rest room or feeling thirsty.
• The reader starts throwing tantrums.
• The reader starts to tell imaginary stories.
• The reader lacks interest in reading.

Now it’s the right time to explain how being mindful at their reading can make it more enjoyable. Even if they are doing something unpleasant — like studying a difficult subject — by accepting that moment without developing anger or daydreaming of hanging out with friends, it becomes more manageable and less stressful. So tell them,

“When you read, you are actually producing sounds, images, and feelings in your mind. Reading simply becomes Mindful Reading when you have that awareness of what is produced in your mind by the book you read. You’re developing concentration when you always bring your mind back to your breath while reading.”

One way to start mindful reading is by teaching kids a set of prompts or rules to use as they read. This helps kids to engage in mindful reading.

Simple Steps For Mindful Reading

1.  Before you read, think about what you already know about the topic. Also look for two words that might be challenging. Underline those words or highlight them. 

2. Read the passage silently. If you finish reading before write a sentence telling the main idea of the passage on your notebook. 

3. Write down a few words or phrases that focus on the main the topic. 

4. Read the passage aloud as you ask your kids to read along silently. Ask them to follow along with you. (You read the passage aloud at the target rate per minute.) 

5. What is one thing you understand from this reading? Write it on your notebook. 

6. Now read the passage one more time. Your goal is to read as much of the passage as you can in one minute. (You stop the reading after one minute and tell kids to circle or highlight on the last word they read before time was called.) 

7. Write a question on your notebook that you would like to ask the author. 

8. Practice these steps while reading every time to develop mindful reading.

Have you practiced Mindful Reading with your kids??? Please add your ideas for doing this ….. <3 <3 <3

 

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Now on to the Literacy Musing Monday’s link up. First let’s

Leslie@Forever Joyful Blog/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Google+Mary @Maryandering Creatively Blog/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/ Instagram/Google+Tami @ThisMomsDelight Blog/Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/Google Plus 

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Now let’s celebrate reading and learning by reviewing:

Last Week’s Top Clicked Post!