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10 Tips To Help Your Child Enjoy Reading

 

10 Tips to Help Your Child Enjoy Reading

Children need to learn to enjoy reading. Reading is very important and a great skill they need to have to help them throughout their entire lives. Encouraging your children to love reading is one of the most important things you can do as a parent.

Their language skills grow when books are part of the family routine. Books are a great way for parents to teach values.

Here are some tips to help your child enjoy reading

  • Don’t wait, Start immediately

It is important that we start reading to our children from when they are babies, it stirs up interest in them and helps to give them the best start in life. It has also been discovered that before a baby can talk, the root of language is already developing in their brains.
When a child learns to read early, they will most likely have great skills like good vocabulary, attaining more accurate spellings and speaking fluently. Having all these skills is a great advantage to them. It will be with them and help them in future and as they grow into adulthood.  The earlier you start, the better for them.

  •  Read out loud to your child

One of the most effective ways to inspire your child and make them love books and reading is to read out loud to them. Reading aloud helps your child bring the words in the book to life.

Discuss the story together. Ask questions and allow your child to ask different questions too. If your child is old enough, you can sometimes ask her to read a book out loud to you.

When your child has learned to read books themselves, don’t stop taking the time to read aloud to them occasionally and keep encouraging them to continue to read aloud to you. This will continue to strengthen your children’s interest.

When you read aloud to each other, it helps your child build confidence in speaking audibly.

  • Make reading an enjoyable routine

Ensure you have lots of fun books at home. Build a library for your children with interesting books. Ensure you pick out books that are interesting and age appropriate. If the books you pick out are too difficult to read, your child will be frustrated and may easily lose interest.

It will be good to start with a daily routine that ensures your child has specific reading times every day.

If your children are very young, read to them. When you read to them, make it fun, try different intonations for different characters, let the characters come alive, vary the tone and pitch of your voice when you need to. Mimic the characters, for example if you are reading a book of animals to your child you can make it more exciting and enjoyable by producing the sounds the animals in the book make.

  • Read to your child frequently

Read, read and read to your child as often as possibly till it becomes a routine.

Research has found that when we read storybooks to children frequently, they will most likely develop the knowledge that is required for ultimate success in reading. Reading to them regularly also helps their language growth and encourages them to read books themselves and further develop their cognitive skills.

It will be great to also always have one of your child’s books with you, especially when going out with your child, so you can use any free time to read to them.

  • Have a special reading space or corner.

It will excite and encourage your child to have a special reading space or corner.

The reading space or corner should have good lighting. You may want to put a comfortable bean bag chair, rug, floor cushions or pillow. Something nice and cozy. It will be nice for your child’s bookshelf to be in that space or close by. All these may easily help your child settle down and enjoy reading good books.

  • Demonstrate what a good reader looks like

Be an example to your child by letting them see you read. It is important that your child sees and knows that you enjoy reading. They should recognize that you are a good reader and that you give reading priority.

The best way is to let them see you read quite often. If they observe  that you love reading and you read a lot, they will most likely be encouraged and develop a love for books. They will also want to emulate you.

  • Shop for Books with your child and visit the library together

It will be nice for your child to go book shopping with you occasionally. Take him/ her along with you and make it a special trip where you can both pick out interesting books together. Children are more likely to read something they pick out that interests them.

It is also a good idea to visit the library with your child. Register your child in a library and get a library card for them. While at the library let them choose books they like, allow them to read the books in the library and also let them pick out books to take home.

  •  Always have book around

It will be good to always keep books around  your child. It could be in the house, in your bag, in the car. If there are books around and they are within your child’s reach, your child will most likely always reach out and pick a book to read even if it’s just for a few minutes. This will also help curb idleness.

  • Do not push your child too hard when it comes to reading.

 Reading can be a bit tense for some children, especially when they are young and have not really understood what reading is about. When they are at this stage don’t push too hard, don’t be forceful and don’t breathe down their neck. It will be good to guide and encourage them, so they will not get discouraged. Be patient, your child may need to gradually get used to this new habit of reading.

  •  Follow your child’s interest

What kind of books is your child interested in? It is good to pay attention to your child’s interest as she grows. If your child is interested or drawn to a particular topic, like pets, colours, friendship or other things, try to look for children’s books about the things they are interested in. This will help your child understand that books are tools for learning more about the things they love and care about. Your child will most likely be interested and eager to read books about those topics or subject matter.

It is also good to follow your child’s interest by deliberately reading what they read. It makes it fun and gives you something to talk about.

You may have certain books in mind that you feel your child should start reading. Don’t be bothered if your child is not reading those books yet.  The important thing is that your child is reading. If your child only enjoys reading comics or children’s magazines right now, that’s fine. Comics and children’s magazines are still opportunities for reading. You can gently encourage them with other reading materials, but do not push too hard. At some point in time, they will be ready and open to other reading materials.

Reading is engaging and it helps promote some time away from screens.

Spending time with books with your child when they are young will help them grow to enjoy reading as they grow older.

Remember, children learn to love books long before they learn to read.

 

 

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Adesimbo Banjo

Adesimbo Banjo

A professional educator

Adesimbo Banjo is a professional educator who has worked with children for over 19 years and is very passionate about raising the next generation of leaders. She is the Head of Role Model School

Adesimbo Banjo

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