Every parent knows that reading is important to a child’s learning process. A child who loves to read tends to have stronger foundation in his or her language skills. Some studies have also show a positive connection between reading and memory improvement as well as other learning benefits. Hence, it is not a coincidence that schools typically encourage children to read more, especially when they are young.
Unfortunately, children books are not cheap especially when buying in quantities. In order to help parents save money without compromising the reading experience of your child, here are 5 ideas for buying cheap children books and reading materials.
#1: Buy used books with online classified sites
There are many second hand children books being sold in classifieds websites. Whether it is Craigslist in US, STClassified in Singapore or Quicksales Online Classifieds in Australia, these venues provide excellent marketplaces for a parent to find a wide range of used children books that are much cheaper than store prices. It is a great alternative to buying books from stores and retailers.
#2: Children ebooks apps
With the growth in the usage of mobile devices, the number of children ebook apps has increased exponentially. On average, the prices of these ebook apps are between USD1.99-USD3.99. This makes it very affordable for a parent to buy lots of reading apps for his or her child. The only drawback is the unhealthy strain on a child’s eyes after prolong reading on the devices. Hence, if you want to consider this option, do limit the the length of time your child spends reading the apps.
#3: Frequent your local library
A library is a great community resource for children. Besides the time and effort to borrow and return books, there isn’t much cost to reading all the great selection the library has. There is also reading aloud sessions frequently held at the venue which can help to boast the reading interest of your child.
#4: Free ebook resources
Another alternative to get free reading materials is the children ebook portals that have sprung up in recent years. The most famous is of course Project Gutenberg, which carries all the out-of-copyright children books such as Fable Stories. KooBits has also contributed to this resource pool by setting out our own free children book portal. This portal curates the top rated stories created by students from local primary schools in Singapore and currently has over 500 free books for children to read online.
#5: Organize a book swap
Finally, you can organize a book swap event with the help of the school. Such an exchange allows children to read more books without parents needing to buy every one of them. The logistics of a books swap do requires some effort but it should become easier if the event becomes a recurring theme. The school’s help will definitely ease the logistic burden so do try to get them involved.
In summary, there are many options to expand your child’s reading materials without having to spend too much money. If you have more ideas, I would love to hear them in the comments section.
