Books are food, not medicine

Times are changing, and people’s concepts must also change.

Liu Xiang of the Han Dynasty once said: "Books are like medicine, and good reading can cure stupidity." But, what era was that? The writings of that era were recorded on bamboo slips, and a few books would suffice. In those days, it was not easy to find a book to read. Therefore, at that time, "books were medicine", a panacea that could cure stupidity.

With the development of the times, books are no longer a rare thing. According to incomplete statistics, 360,000 books are published around the world every day. If we want to talk about the means of obtaining information, there are more, such as television, computers, mobile phones... We are living in an unprecedented era. According to statistics, the New York Daily News now produces more information in one week than a person received in a lifetime in the 18th century, and now produces more information in 18 months than in the past 5,000 years combined. In such an era, wouldn’t it be a bit outdated if you still regard books as “medicine”?

Books are food, not medicine.

My hometown is in Jiaozuo, Henan. There is a kind of yam there. It is named "Iron Bar Yam" because it has rust-like traces on it. It is a precious Chinese medicinal material that has been highly praised by doctors of all ages and praised as a longevity factor. The "Liuwei Rehmannia Pills" made from it plus "Rehmannia glutinosa" and other medicinal materials are also very famous. The yield of "Tiegun yam" is not high. In the past, people used it as a medicinal material and called it "Huai Shen". However, in recent years, with more and more people planting it and increasing production, it has become a food that everyone can easily enjoy every day.

The same is true for books. In the Han Dynasty, because they were very small in quantity and hard to obtain, books could only be used as "medicine"; in modern times, knowledge is no longer a scarce thing, and books have become "food."

If you don’t have food for a day, you will feel hungry. Food is a necessity for our daily life. Where's the medicine? Of course you have to take medicine when you are sick, but if you take medicine as food, you must be seriously ill.

To establish the concept of "books are food" is to develop the habit of reading every day. Make reading as natural as breathing and eating. Physical growth requires grains as food; spiritual growth requires books as food. This is really a simple truth. Only by establishing this concept can we understand that "a day without books means everything is barren."

If "books are medicine", then you only need to take medicine when you are sick. Only when you think your child is sick will you read to your child. How can that be done?

3. The food should be rich and diverse, and the medicine should focus on the symptoms

Every morning, we may have a cup of soy milk, a fried dough stick, and an egg; at noon, we have to eat rice. , or noodles; a bowl of porridge, a steamed bun at night... There are many kinds of food to eat in a day. Books are food, which means "read more and read a variety of books". Mr. Lu Xun said: "Learning must be like a bee, picking many flowers before it can make honey. If it stings in one place, the income will be very limited and boring."

For children's learning , especially so. Grains are rich in nutrients and comprehensive, and are the most beneficial to health. For children in the basic stage, children should especially be allowed to read books in various categories and written by different authors. In terms of categories, literature, science, history...the more complex you read, the better; in terms of authors, generally each author has his own writing advantages, but if you only read the works of one author, you will sacrifice a lot. Opportunities to gain nourishment. Only when children's reading roots are rooted in a wider land can they absorb more nutrients.

If you have a cold, you need to take cold medicine; if you have diarrhea, you need to take medicine for diarrhea. Taking medicine focuses on symptomatic treatment. If you have a cold and take medicine to treat diarrhea, it will be bad. Not only will it not cure the disease, it may also have negative effects.

Reading can, of course, be targeted. Many of our parents do this now. If your child's math is poor, well, go to a bookstore and buy some Mathematics Olympiad tutoring books; if your child's composition is poor, well, let someone recommend some excellent composition selections... Reading this way is certainly not wrong. However, this method of treating a headache and treating a sore foot may not really help children grow. At the same time, it will also promote anxiety.

I often hear some parents say that my son has done two Mathematical Olympiad books, but his grades have not improved. It is really painful to accompany him and force him every day. I bought several sets of excellent composition selections for my daughter. Why do I still have nothing to say when I start writing compositions? When will I be able to write an article as wonderful as the essay selection? After being anxious for a long time and many times, many parents have doubts about reading: Is reading really useful? Why didn't I see it?

When you have a disease, of course you can’t delay it, you have to treat it as soon as possible! There is a sense of urgency here. It’s best to have “instant results”! Many parents' anxiety stems from this sense of urgency. I wish I could use the books I read at that time and improve my grades at that time.

But, how can this happen when reading? "Books are food." Eat to grow! Of course, the food you eat will grow into a part of your body. Look, don’t babies grow up just like this? However, if you want to ask, where did this meal go? Did it grow on the face or on the arms? It's hard to say where. The child ate a plate of braised pork today. We would not pinch his arm and ask: "Is this piece of braised pork growing here?" If we can't see this growth, we won't be anxious about how to eat it. Why isn’t this bowl of meat growing? However, many parents have such anxiety - "My children have been reading extracurricular books for many days, but it is of no use at all?"

Reading is spiritual growth. This process is actually the same as the growth of a child's body: nothing changes when you stare at your child every day. But when you look back after a while, you will notice the changes in your child.

The food tastes sweet and delicious. The taste of reading should be the same. "Curiosity" is human nature, and the desire for knowledge is human instinct. Reading should be a fun thing. I recall how happy I was to be able to find an extracurricular book to read when I was a child! At that time, my family was poor and had no money to buy books, so I tried every means to go to my friends' houses to buy books. I get a book and I'm hungry for it. The book brings me so much happiness.

However, many children now turn reading into a chore. Books seem to have really become a bitter "medicine" that is hard to swallow.

At this time, some people will say. Didn't you say "books are food"? What child doesn’t like eating food?

"There is a road to the mountain of books, and diligence is the path, and there is no limit to the sea of ??learning, and hard work is the boat." Reading is hard, but is there bitter melon in the meal? However, if studying is only "painful" and becomes an unspeakable task, then there must be something wrong.

A good book, but the child can't read it. This is not the fault of the book, nor the fault of the child, but the wrong combination of food and children. For example, rice is nutritious, but would you feed rice to a baby who is just one month old? You don't because you know that rice is too hard for babies to eat.

In the same way, children at different reading stages must be given "food" that is suitable for them. Don’t scold your children for not liking reading just because they haven’t fallen in love with a good book yet.

We often encounter this kind of thing. Some parents place their dreams on their children, hoping that their children will become talented in one day. Regardless of whether the content is suitable or not, your eyes light up when you see the word "masterpiece". However, growth is a personal matter, and reading is a private matter. Just like some people like light food, some people don't like spicy food. You must find the right books for your children so that they can slowly fall in love with reading.

When I was a child, I often saw slogans on the walls: Dig holes deep and store grain widely. There is food at home, so I don’t panic. Although in this day and age, it seems that there is no need to hoard food at home, that is because the food is stored in supermarkets and markets. If it is no longer available, it can be obtained at any time. For children, "books are food", and books should be accessible to children at any time. Although there are many books in libraries and bookstores, how many families can take their children to the library or bookstore once a week?

Therefore, we encourage parents to buy more books for their children. There must be a collection of books at home. Israel is known as the "Nation of the Book." A survey of 102 Israeli kindergarten children found that 51 children from wealthy families had an average of 54 books in their families, while children who did not do well in school had an average of 4.6 books in their families.

Research from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows that the more books a family has, the stronger their children’s writing, reading and math skills will be. According to news reports, the University of Nevada in the United States released a research report. They surveyed 73,000 students in 27 countries and found that children with books at home were 20% more likely to graduate from college than those without. Moreover, in mainland China, children in families with a collection of more than 500 books spend an average of 6.6 years longer in education than those in families without a collection of books; in the United States, children in the same situation spend 2.4 years longer on education.

——Children’s books generally cost no more than 20 yuan. Assuming 20 yuan per book, a collection of 500 books would cost 10,000 yuan. Are you willing to use 10,000 yuan in exchange for 6.6 more years of education for your children? I think no parent would be unwilling.

If there are more books at home, the children will have more choices. There will always be books that children will like, and there will always be books that are suitable for children to read at this stage.

I often hear some parents say: I haven’t finished the book I bought for him last time? Why still buy it? "Books are food." If you haven't finished the last meal, you must reheat it before eating it, otherwise you won't make a new one. In what era has this been done? We buy all kinds of food and things for our children. We often buy new ones before they finish eating, and buy new clothes before they are worn out. Why is it so important when it comes to buying books? Are you stingy?

Dear teachers and parents, "books are food, not medicine." Only if we establish this concept can we guide children to have a strong interest in reading and help them develop the habit of reading every day. . Let us work together for it, for the sake of the children!