How to Grow a Love For Reading in Your Children

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We all know how important reading is and all the benefits that it can bring into your child’s life. However, with the introduction of smartphones, tablets, game consoles and televisions, it’s hard to compete with this level of entertainment.

But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

Today, we’re going to explore everything you need to know in order to grow a love for reading in your children, allowing them to enjoy all the benefits that it provides.

Read Books with Pictures

The majority of children will have wild imaginations that will come into play when you’re reading a story but reading a book with pictures is a great way to help them really engage with the story. According to a study, children are more eager to receive information from books with pictures about animals.

Amanda Taylor, a children’s psychologist for Academized, shares,

“Most children’s books these days will come with illustrations but when choosing the right one, make sure you’re looking for bright and colourful ones that they’ll simply love.”

Make Sure You Ask Questions

While a lot of the concepts in children’s books might be easy to grasp, that might just be because you’re an adult and the same might not be applicable to your child. When you’re reading a story, make sure you’re asking your child questions, or at least giving them the opportunity to ask their own so you can both be sure that everything is understood.

Marcus Harper, a writer for Big Assignments and a father of two boys, shares,

“If your child doesn’t understand what you’re reading, they are not going to find it fun or entertaining, it will just be you reading words to them and them just enjoying being with you. While this is nice, it won’t cultivate a love for reading.

As a writer, sometimes I prepare stories for my kids with a surprise at the end of it. If they read the whole story and answer all the questions, they’d have a secret word, which points to the place, where the surprise is. It is engaging and they ask for more stories not only for surprises.”

Enjoy Your Time Together

It’s easy for you to get home from work, cook the dinner, complete any other errands you have to do and pop your feet up in front of the TV. However, when it comes to reading with your kids, make sure you turn off any distractions they might have.

Get into bed together or create a comfy area that your child can associate with reading. Then make sure you get nice and close together and have a cuddle.

Of course, this is something both you and your children are going to love and will associate reading with a happy pastime.

Use Online Tools

While the internet can be one of the biggest distractions for a child when it comes to reading, when used as a tool, there are many ways it can be proactively used to cultivate a love for reading. Here are a few tools to get you started;

  • Bartleby – This a comprehensive online source of all kinds of literature and references that helps you discover new forms of reading material.
  • Paper Fellows – A great place to exchange children stories with other children and families.
  • Poetry Idea Engine – Getting children to write their own poetry is a great way to get them into reading. Use this idea generator to help form ideas.
  • State of Writing / Via Writing / UK Writings – These three services are great places to source stories that your children will love to read.
  • Books Should Be Free – An extensive and free database full of audiobooks you can download and listen to with your children.

Never Force It

While it’s ideal to read to your children every day, perhaps an hour every evening before bed, it’s important to remember that your children might not want to read every day and to force it on them is only going to make them hate it and see it as a chore.

Sarah Dowson, a teacher and psychologist at Australian help, explain,

“If one night your child doesn’t want to read, and you normally read for an hour, try asking them whether they’re happy to cut that down to half an hour, or even 20 minutes. If they downright refuse, you can try to convince them further, but ensure that you never force it.”

Conclusion

As you can see, there are multiple ways you get your children to fall in love with the act of reading. Try creating a reading habit every day, and before long, your child will not want to stop by putting their book down!

Brenda Berg is a professional with over 15 years of experience in business management, marketing and entrepreneurship. Consultant and tutor for college students and entrepreneurs at Oxessays. She believes that constant learning is the only way to success. You can visit her personal blog at Letsgoandlearn.com

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