The 15-minute reading habit that carried Grade 1

No programs, no apps — the same couch, every evening, any book they choose. That last part is the whole trick: any book they choose. Graphic novels, the same Elephant & Piggie for the ninth time, a cereal box once. Fine.

How we protected the slot

Cricket season, travel, Diwali week — the habit survived because we shrank it instead of skipping it. Five minutes in a hotel bed still counts. The rule was "we never skip, we only shrink."

What changed by March

A kid who reads without being asked. Not a prodigy — a kid who picks up a book when he's bored, which teachers will tell you is the entire game. The evening fights about reading logs disappeared too, because the log filled itself.

If you take one thing: let them pick the book, even when it hurts.