Asma Balfaqih
Family and home
Ten minutes in the evening
Many parents tell me they have too little time for reading aloud. My answer is always the same: ten minutes are enough if they happen every evening. Children do not need a long reading hour, they need reliability.
A ritual has three parts. It always begins in the same way, for instance with the same sentence. It has a fixed place, the bed or the sofa. And it ends calmly, with a short question or a small prayer. This form gives a child security, even on days that were restless.
In our home the beginning has been the same sentence for years: which book tonight? The children know exactly what comes next. And I notice that on demanding days in particular, those ten minutes do all of us good.