The love of reading is one of the greatest indicators of academic success. But exactly how can parents encourage children to love books? There are steps you can take to raise an avid reader.
Start Early
Begin reading to your child early. Let your child touch and hold books as early as possible. There are many books that are designed for babies with simple text, big pictures and soft edges, suitable for reading or chewing.
Read Daily
Don’t just reserve books for bedtime, make reading a special time between you and your child. The more importance you put on reading, the more importance your child will put on books.
Talk About It
As you are reading, talk about the story with your child. You can ask toddlers to spot background characters in the pictures. As children become more verbal, ask them questions about the story. Ask the child when he thinks will happen next. At the end of the book, ask the child when he thought about story. Let him compare it to others stories you have read together.
Make a Reading Corner
Your child will learn that books are important by the importance you place on books. So, if possible, put a child-sized bookshelf in the child’s room. If this is impossible, create a place in your home for books. Don’t Limit Your Child. Expose your child to a wide variety of books: fiction, nonfiction, biography and classics. Also, just because you have a preschooler doesn’t mean that she won’t enjoy longer books. Try reading chapter books or even longer children’s novels out loud a chapter at a time.
Listen While You Work
Have a long car trip or just a day of errands? Try popping in an audio book that you can listen to with your child. Talk about the story with your child while you listen.
Visit the Library
A weekly trip to the library gives your child the opportunity to choose books himself. If you can, time it with a local story time so that your child can see that other children enjoy books as much as he does. Make Books a “Treat.” Let your child earn books by doing her chores or meeting behavioural goals. Let your child choose books to give as birthday presents to friends and family. The goal is to help your child see that books are special.
Set a Good Example
Your child will learn more by what you do than by what you say. So take some time to read every day yourself. As your child sees you enjoying a good book, he will learn to value reading himself.
For comprehensive step by step instructions on how to teach your child to read, check out our Learn To Read Series