—
It’s no secret that reading is important. But what may come as a surprise is just how important it actually is. Reading isn’t just a hobby or an activity to pass the time – it’s a fundamental skill that helps children learn and grow. In fact, reading has been linked with a variety of positive outcomes, including increased intelligence, better grades in school, and even higher salaries later in life.
Clearly, then, parents should do everything they can to encourage their children to read. But where do you start? How can you make sure your kids develop a lifelong love of reading? Here are ten tips to get you started:
Read to your child
Most children love reading stories, so unless you’re busy, make time to read with your kids. And even if they are too young, just asking them to listen while you read is also a great way to get to know them better.
Not only does it help them learn what important words mean and how to put sentences together, but it gives them a chance to gain confidence in your presence.
Being asked to join you isn’t such a big deal for most children, but it can be hard for some.
If you find that your child is not willing to join you at the table, let them sit down quietly in their chair until they have finished eating or trying to eat again. A lot of children do not like to ask for help and/or see others’ reactions.
This can put people on notice that something is bothering them. Letting things linger longer than necessary makes a person feel worse than before. 🤕
Make reading fun
Reading is a pleasure for your children, but they may not think so if it’s a duty. Don’t make them read! Let them choose what they want to read, or what you’ll buy for them.
The whole purpose of having books is so that someone can take something interesting (and possibly valuable) an individual has created and share it with another person.
Don’t make their education about being productive and getting ahead depend on how fast they can pick up a book; making them read just because “they should” will only frustrate them once they find out that what they love doesn’t come as naturally to us as it does to you. Read this Children Learning Reading Review to help your kid read at an early age.
Let them write reviews, read short stories, and do anything else that brings enjoyment before bed each night. When we hear other kids talking about their day, we know they are enjoying themselves.
Give kids choices
When you were young, you received lots of instructions about what to do and how to live your life. You were probably told when to eat when to sleep, and so on. However, as you grow up, you gain more freedom, but that doesn’t mean you any longer make any decisions for other people.
Making decisions is one of the things we love most in our lives. However, many times in school, we don’t give students a choice. We force them to think with something other than their brain. To be successful in life, they need to learn how to choose.
When you talk to children about choosing a movie or a book to watch or read, let them ask questions. Let them ask which movie or book they want to see or listen to and why.
This gives them a chance to express their thoughts and makes it a more interactive experience. They will enjoy the film or book they are reading or watching more because they were involved in its creation.
Letting children have choices can also improve their productivity. If they have a choice of movies or books, they will only check out two films or readings at a time. This saves time that would otherwise be spent browsing online shops or looking through racks for a new book.
Let children make their own choices
It’s hard to enjoy a book if you don’t like what it is about. You can read the same book over and over, but will you read it again if it isn’t centered around your interests? Most people go through life with a limited number of books they love. They stay in the books that feel good to them, regardless of whether those books are related to who they are or what they have already read.
You’ll find that even if someone doesn’t know how to read yet, they tend to like the stories that get told. To encourage an interest in reading by letting them choose any story they want!
Support their self-esteem by asking for their opinions and trying not to be offended when they tell you something that seems stupid or wrong. Most kids hate hearing things like “that’s boring” or “you’re dumb”.
Let them ask questions and try to answer them. If they do understand then go ahead and let them join in whatever activity you are doing. This way they will learn to trust themselves and take responsibility for what they have done.
Keep things simple
Reading is one of the greatest things you can do in life. However, it’s also one of the hardest things to do.
In today’s fast-paced society, there’s a lot of pressure from publishers, media, and others to keep learning new things, always have something new to try, or be completely content with what you already have.
But being content with what you have isn’t a bad thing – it’s just people tend to believe that they must want to know more about everything.
And while wanting to learn more about certain topics may sound nice, having a quest for knowledge is not as important as being aware of how much you don’t know.
In other words, trying to understand every bit of information we get is not worth it, because we will never finish reading or watching whatever we are looking into.
It’s better to choose a topic and focus on it until you fully understand it than to keep searching for answers by going to different sites, blogs, etc., but not finishing each one because you end up getting distracted.
Provide lots of reading material
It’s easy for kids to get distracted when reading, so make sure you have multiple things to read. If your kid is already a reader, they will check out what other people write as soon as someone else starts writing.
You can ask if there are any books in the house or if parents let their children watch TV but making reading an enjoyable experience does not mean turning off the television or ignoring technology.
Reading should be fun and relaxing – don’t make it hard by forcing them to read at night, or making them spend hours finding stories. Short stories are better than long ones, too, because readers can forget each story once they’ve finished it.
Give rewards such as playing games or telling jokes to encourage sharing thoughts and feelings while reading. Making this part of his or her daily routine is a great way to motivate children to read.
Letting them play with crayons or stickers helps satisfy them and makes words more accessible. Put posters up around the room to increase motivation even further.
These tips will help you convince your child to read!
Answer questions
It’s easy for kids to become distracted while reading, especially if they are books that are chapter-based such as novels or stories.
There are many reasons why children get distracted when reading, but one big reason is that they do not understand what you are asking of them.
You have to make it clear how you want them to interpret the text, then listen and watch to see if they are doing it correctly.
It can be very frustrating trying to read a book without being able to follow the story, so after explaining their process with your words, let them figure out how to decode the message you send them.
Let them know this from the beginning by stating the word count in the page value box and announcing which pages were necessary.
This will help them start the guessing game about whether or not they should be thinking about that number of words. And once they find out, they will likely use that information to help them keep up.
Educate them on how to correct themselves, since everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Let them know it’s okay to ask for help and give it whenever they need it.
The more knowledge they acquire through education, the better reader they will be. If they don’t understand something, they will try to guess how to fix it, and eventually, they will learn how.
Talk about what you read
It is so easy to turn your kids off reading completely. They may be in first or middle grade, but they need to learn that books are important and can enrich their lives.
If you’ve decided they should read, however, many reasons exist as to why you shouldn’t make it sound simple!
Tell them how novels have characters with different stories, ideas, and perspectives; works express the human experience and help us understand life more fully. Some of these reasons are unique to young people, like helping them discover new passions, learning new skills, and making memories.
Many teens feel compelled to read because their parents force them to. If someone has convinced you that your child must read, please discuss this with others to overcome such fear.
Reading is a monumental part of growing up, and you want to support them in whatever way you can.
Ask for questions
You want your kids to be passionate about reading, but it’s hard to get them interested if they don’t see anything they like or are good at.
You can help solve this by asking great questions. When you ask questions, not only do you provide helpful guidance, but you also open up possibilities in their lives creatively.
If you always wanted to go to school somewhere else, now is your chance to try it. If there’s something that scares you about reading, then why not give it a shot? You could tell some stories and inspire people to read.
However, keep in mind that not every child will respond well to being asked questions. Some children learn best through verbal instruction instead of doing it on their own.
—
This content is brought to you by Andrea Mario.
Photos provided by the author with written permission from owner Colton Barter
