Get your kids hooked on reading
Reading doesn't come naturally to all children, but as a parent this isn't something that you should feel guilty about. Instead, focus on helping your child to enjoy reading so they see it as something that's fun and engaging. Below are some tips from Reading for Life so you can support your child to become a "reader":
Don't blame the children. Acknowledge how they feel about reading. Perhaps they see reading as something they have to do at school, rather than something to do in the leisure time. Try to help them to find books about topics that interest them, maybe they love playing football or are animal-lovers?
Explain that people like and admire people for their qualities and reading is not a quality!
It is motivational for reluctant readers to have access to a computer. Boys, especially, respond well to interactive media. (Have a look at our story-time videos to set them off! Naomi) All reading is good reading, so even if they play games they have to read the instructions. Reading is not just restricted to books. Encourage your children to read aloud the recipe you are cooking for dinner, give them comic books to read or whatever you can get your hands on!
Consider whether other members of the family regard reading, including fiction, as an enjoyable pastime. Where boys are concerned, do Dad and any older male siblings act as role models? Being seen reading yourself has been proven as one of the most effective ways to encourage children to read.
Encourage them to talk enthusiastically about books they have enjoyed and to recommend titles to other reluctant readers.
My 5 year old daughter is already hooked on reading, though I don't suppose many of us I would be on this website if we weren't already encouraging our kids to read. It has never been a chore for her read, or for us to read to her. She just sees it as part of her everyday life and doesn't even stop to question it. I don't understand why so many parents find it hard to encourage their kids to read - it doesn't take a great deal of extra time and effort to read a book at bedtime, point out a street sign as you go past it or read the label on a tin of food whilst shopping. Even if they just love watching TV, you can read aloud the names of the TV programmes as you channel hop or point out the names of the characters on magazines or books.
I think the saddest thing is when children (particularly boys) leave primary school, having been encouraged / coerced / forced into reading books since the beginning, and start at secondary school. Suddenly reading isn't given the status or premium it was, and yet many 11 year olds struggle to cope with material requiring intellectual engagement. It's difficult to monitor each child's reading, and of course timetabling issues make the whole thing so difficult. But sadly so many teenagers never progress beyond that 11 year old level, and certainly never manage to read more than "sound-bite" type texts. I think emotional literacy suffers as a result of this, along with intellectual and conceptual development. My step-son - about to start Year 10 and approaching 15 years old - proudly boasted the other day that he hasn't read a book since leaving primary school. As an ex-teacher and now an author, I could have wept!
I think it is important to encourage reading with children as a life skill. When my boys read even a chapter of a book I encourage them to talk about the story and the characters it is good for comprehension and literacy at school.