7 Ways to Encourage Your Children to Read
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Photo Source: Cristina Thornburg
FishPapa and I are major bookworms. For years we lived without TV or VCR because we so much preferred reading. Our date nights were often spent browsing through Borders or talking about the books we were reading. He prefers theology and I prefer novels, so we’re good foils for one another. Recently, he read a memoir, which is close to a novel, and I’m getting ready to tackle a Bible commentary. Oh my word! We’re probably starting to look like each other, too!
Even though a television exists in our home today, we still love to read. And I’m so glad that our children do, too. So far, three boys know how to read and FishBoy5 is well on his way to learning. I am so excited! This homeschooling experiment is working! My children are literate – oh happy day!
I can’t say that we have any special tricks to having produced good readers, but I am so thankful that we have a family of bookworms.
Here are some things that I believe have helped us in this journey:
1. Read to your children early and often. My favorite pediatrician of all time, Dr. Patterson, always gave our babies board books at their six month visits. He was a firm believer in reading to children at an early age. I was always so impressed by his willingness to put his money where his mouth was. I’d heard this advice before, but I was often frustrated when my first born would tune out while I was reciting Go, Dog. Go! Eventually, I learned that “reading” to a baby is much different than reading to a toddler or to a preschooler. Sometimes, it involves just “reading” the pictures, or simply narrating what you see. Depending on the child’s personality, development, and attention span, you may find different kids wanting or needing different types of reading. FishBoy12 could listen, spellbound, to Saint George and the Dragon when he was only three. Yet, today FishBoy5 doesn’t really want to hear the story in its entirety. Be patient, try different things, and most importantly, continue to expose your kids to good books.
2. Make library day a regular event. This can be as simple as a 20 minute stop on errand day or elaborate as several hours spent browsing and reading and maybe attending a library-sponsored event, like storytime. There are some challenges to library trips, but with creative thinking, I think most parents can find a way to make it work. If it just seems impossible right now, take a breather for a few months and try again. Chances are you can request books online and then pick them up in a few days from your local branch. This should help keep a steady supply of reading material in the house.
3. Start a book collection. Whether you have a Barnes and Noble budget or simply a passion for browsing used book stores and thrift stores, establish a home library and find a tiny corner of your home where your kids can keep a few books of their own. This doesn’t need to be elaborate, but I think there is something sweet and comforting about a well-worn volume that a child can call his own. I began our book collection by ordering through Scholastic Books years ago. These are inexpensive, paperback books that are usually available in popular and classic titles. Many of the books I bought 10+ years ago are still serving us well.
4. Read books aloud as a family. This is not something that I remember from my own childhood, probably because I loved to find a quiet corner to read by myself. But, we’ve made this a family habit. Over the years, we’ve read 100s of books together as a family and kids — of all ages — enjoy this. In fact, FishPapa has been known to stop his home improvement project to listen better to my recitation of Old Yeller. If you need help in choosing good books or aren’t really sure what it means to read aloud to kids, check out The Read Aloud Handbook or Honey for a Child’s Heart.
5. Engage in book discussions and book recommendations with your kids. As your children grow older, they will want to read books on their own. We regularly have 30+ books checked out from the library. Since our oldest three children are all boys, they have similar book interests. It’s not uncommon for the same book to pass through three pairs of hands in the course of a week or two. This is the prime time for me to read the book as well. Then we can discuss it together, sharing what we liked, what we didn’t like, what we expected, what disappointed, etc. Often, the boys will give each other suggestions as to what to read next. It’s a wonderful way for us to engage in a story without being there all at the same time.
6. Make quiet reading a regular part of every day. When I taught high school we called this time during class, SSR (Silent, Sustained Reading). For some students, this was the only quiet block of time they might experience all day. Make sure this is a part of your home on a regular basis, if not everyday. In this season of our life, we often have reading time right at bedtime. FishKids need to be in bed at 8:30 but can read until 9. Find a pocket of time that works best at your house.
7. Demonstrate your love of reading to your kids. Read! Children learn what they live. If they see you value books and what you gain from reading, their interest will be piqued, and they will most likely follow suit. Make it a regular habit to have a good book going and share what you’re reading or what you hope to accomplish by reading a certain book. If you need some inspiration, join us each month as we’re booking it.
What do you do to encourage your kids to love books and reading?
I have tried many of the things you list but my daughter age 4 just does not like to read- or be read to. She just will not sit still for more than about a minute. It makes me sad because I always loved reading. Now that I am a mom I never have time to read a book.
Ditto, ditto- Great advice that we also did with our kids, now ages 17 and 13. They read, read, read still and are about the only ones they know who use the school library to check out books (sad, but true).
As a preschool teacher I tell my parents that reading with your child is the #1 thing and I can always tell the children who have parents who read with them!
For children who struggle, really try to make it fun- get easy, funny books and just look at the pictures and tell a story at first, gradually moving to reading words while moving your finger along the words. It’s OK to start slow, just try to make it fun, a really special time with a parent! It didn’t click with our daughter until after first grade, while our son read at 3- each child is different!
What a great post! Our family loves reading, too. When I was pregnant with our daughter (now 8 1/2 months), my husband read Goodnight Moon to my belly every night. After she was born, we started reading to her regularly, and it’s a part of her bedtime routine. We check library books out for her, and once a month we take a trip as a family to a bookstore (sometimes new, sometimes used) and everybody gets to pick out their own book. Of course, right now WE pick her book, but she still gets one. 🙂 We really hope she’ll grow up to love reading.
My mom and dad were big readers, and many of these tips are EXACTLY what they did to get me to love reading. Regular library trips (complete with the cloth bag and as-many-as-you-can-carry rule!), them reading to us, starting a home library, letting us see them reading…wow, I can’t thank my parents enough!
A woman named Mary Leonhardt has written some fantastic books about how to get kids to love reading–“Parents Who Love Reading, Kids Who Don’t” and “Keeping Kids Reading” are two of my favorites!
We have a wonderful children’s “library” built up, thanks to Dolly Parton and the Imagination Library. It’s a program that gives your child a new book every month from birth-5 years (certain states). My oldest is 5 1/2 and my daughter is 20 months. We have enjoyed all our books and look forward to many more over the next several years. We love to make library visits (and I just adore when my son asks me to go). I am a college student as well as a homeschooling mama so I utilize the online reservation service to pick out good books. When we go (and my toddler is in tow), I know I’ll have some good books to bring home in case our time is cut short. I am looking forward to the annual used library book sale at the end of the month, all kids books are $1!!
My husband loves to read as well and really enjoys reading to our kids and answering lots of questions. As a child, I grew up in the library and hope my kids develop a love for it too. 🙂
I absolutely love to read and my daughter has taken after me on this – she begs to stay up and read, claiming “just a few more pages until I finish this chapter”. She loved to be read to when she was younger, but over the last couple of years, she hasn’t liked it so much, although she will join me while reading easy picture books to her brothers from time to time. My middle son is a totally different story and its a challenge to get him to read and to stick with it. A few things have helped – attending a library program where they interactively talked to the kids about lesser known book series and had a pile of books for them to choose from once a series interested them – this exposed my son and I to series we weren’t familiar with that I think might interest him this year. Finding the right book has been the key lately to sparking reading in him – he is loving the Wimpy Kid series. Extra help with fluency at school is also helping – as reading becomes easier for him, his interest increases. We also have a “in bed by 8:30” rule, and sometimes it gets pushed to 8, but lights can stay on until 9 as long as that time is spent reading – not with legos or other toys – the extra time is for reading or writing or drawing only. The last 2 months my son has chosen to stay up and read vs turning his light off – success!!
Our family just finished two of the “Fireside Readings” books from Lamplighter Publishing. Our children are 10, 8, and 5, and they all asked for the story to be read every night (even with very few pictures.) We are just about to start on the Boys of Grit series, also from Lamplighter. We absolutely love their books, reprinted from 18th, 19th and early 20th century titles.
Our kids all love to read, too. I think that it’s partly because my husband and I both love to read, and that we have lots of books around all of the time. My middle child is just to the point now that she can read very simple books independently. It’s been fun to watch.
I love your ideas. I was a Kindergarten teacher and now a mom to a 14 month old boy. I have read to him everyday since birth. He know picks up books and flips through them. I look forward to many good times with books with my son.
@Kelly – “As many books as you can carry” is our family rule, too! Fortunatley, I have a wonderful partner who will carry my books when I get too excited about too many. 🙂
And @Tracey – we get quiet afternoons from a morning library trip, too! Isn’t it wonderful?
Great post! Thanks! My little son will be 2 in May and I’ve read to him almost every night since he was born. He doesn’t have a long attention span yet so it involves me reading while he runs around. The past few nights he has actually come over and looked at a few pictures and even sat in my lap and listened to two pages. Oh joy!