Ways To Encourage Your Child To Read
Reading is a vital skill that opens up a work of discovery and opportunities for your child. Reading allows your child to learn anything their heart desires. Reading is no longer a favorite pastime for many children who spend hours a day on electronic devices.
When trying to get your child to read it can feel like nothing helps when they have so many other options. You can do several great things to help encourage your child to read.
Some of my kids very much do not take after me on the whole bibliophile situation and need a bit more encouragement to even try to read let alone fall in love with reading the way I have. They tend to claim they can not read the moment a hard word comes to the surface instead of working to figure it out and compare their reading skills to what they see when looking over my shoulder leading to very discouraged children.
The good news is that after three kids like this, I have a few tricks to help encourage my stubborn reluctant readers and help keep their reading abilities at least on track with their peers while they work through this stage in their education.
Set limits on screen time
Screen time can be a sanity saver. I am not saying to give it up entirely but to set reasonable limits. We allow screen time after chores are done and I need a bit of quiet. This allows me to get the kids settled so I can have some quiet.
Otherwise, unless it is a particularly rough day I let the kids get bored. This encourages them to get creative tot to entertain themselves or to pick up a book. It is okay to give your child time to be bored.
Set an example for your child.
Spend more time reading where your kids can see you. Often parents choose to read digital books or to read before our kids wake up. While your time reading your bible may be a great moment alone reading should carry on into your day. This will ensure that your child sees you reading.
Kids have a tendency to do what they see their parents doing. This includes pretending to cook and clean which is why children’s kitchen sets are so popular. Let your child see you read and leave books available for them to read.
One thing you can do to help encourage your reluctant readers is to make sure they see you reading on a regular basis. In the mornings when we sunggle up to warm up if I ma not reading a book to the kids they are seeing me reading a book even when they are playing games or watching videos. This sets an example and allows me to start the day on a peaceful note that helps set the tone for the rest of our day.
Buy books that will catch your child’s interest
Every child has different likes, dislikes, and interests. A great way to encourage your child to read is to supply them with a selection of books that play on your child’s personal interests.
Take advantage of all recourses you have at your disposal to keep your child supplies with plenty of great reading material that they will enjoy. Stop by the library, order books online, and take advantage of digital ebooks available to your family. If you own a kindle fire you can get two months of Kindle Unlimited for free.
The more your kids have available to them the more likely they will find something that interests them. We love to collect books when they are on sale, buy books to match things we are studying and make regular trips to the local library to help ensure that there is never a lack of reading material in the house. We even had a Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Kids+ subscriptions (Try a month free here) to help make sure the kids Kindle Tablets have more than enough books to keep them interested.
Have books delivered to your child.
Order fun surprises for your child that they will enjoy off Amazon or Thrift Books. Sign up for surprise book subscriptions for your child using services like Prime Book Box to make books a regular delivery without much extra thought. Something about getting mail with their name on it makes even books a fun surprise.
Create activities to go with books
One thing teachers use to make books interesting is to create crafts and activities to go with books. You can book book-themed crafts like this Dr. Seuss Many Colored Days Activity or printables like this Giraffes Can’t Dance printable pack. For older kids creating projects like making your own fishing hooks from My Side Of The Mountain is a great way to bring the book to life.
Bring reading into everyday life.
Reading is essential for basics like cooking. Having your child help in the kitchen allows them to work on basic reading and math skills in a fun and exciting way. The reward of a fun new cake is worth the effort to practice reading a recipe.
Pull out the games.
We keep reading games on hand, most of which are hand made by me like memory math using sight words or things like this grow with me green eggs and ham game.
We love Teach Your Monster To Read here for the younger kids. While it doesn’t build the kind of comprehension they need to be able to read at an adult level like they want it does wonders for getting your young children to a 2nd-grade reading level and building the foundation that they will use as they grow.
Some games are great for working on reading and literacy skills in a fun way that doesn’t feel like school.
Read to your child often
Reading to your child is a great way to for your child to fall in love with books and literature, work on reading comprehension when you ask them questions as you read, and help them learn patterns that will help them become better readers when they are ready.
Don’t stress
When their kids are reluctant to read or a bit behind their peers many parents freak out but the truth is every child is different and will become ready for reading at a different point. Keep encouraging reading with these healthy tips but try not to stress because soon enough your child will start to pick up on new words and develop as readers simply because they are ready to do so.
Remember that every child learns at their own pace and the best thing you can do is make reading fun so they want to do it rather than making it a fight in your home that can lead to anxiety around reading.
