5 Tips To Get Your Child Excited About Reading
Books are the soul of knowledge. There are boundless adventures to be had when we crack open a book, endless possibilities to start on, and getting our juices of creativity flowing.
As a kid, you have to not only be taught the fundamentals of reading but also what a joy it can add to your life.
Some kids love to read, and some don’t. Some children are content to curl up somewhere and listen to a story being read (or to read for themselves when they are capable).
They enjoy being lost in the story and spending that special time with a parent or loved one. Other children, however, just don’t like the intensity of concentration required for reading (or listening to a story) and have a hard time sitting still that long.
For these children, they equate reading with having to sit still and be quiet, which can cause some discomfort for them and, in turn, create an aversion to reading, in general.
The following are some tips and tricks to turn this obstacle into a positive and turn your child into a reading aficionado. Keep in mind that there are no guarantees that your child will love reading as much as you do.
However, you can still get your kids to read for the purposes of education, and the less pressure you put on the child to be a reader, the more they will be inclined to find the joy in reading themselves.
Incorporate Reading into Your Bedtime Routine
One of the first steps or tricks is to get your child to read before going to sleep. I recommend having them get into bed maybe at first, like 30 to 45 minutes before they are supposed to be asleep and then have them lay there and read or read to them.
If they seem bored with what you are reading or start to focus on other things in the room, ask them if there is something else they would like to read or for you to read to them.
Having a bedtime routine and incorporating reading into it not only gets you what you want, but it also provides the child with some much-needed learning and also helps them sleep and rest well as they are sleeping.
As I said, try to limit the reading time to 30 to 45 minutes, but if your child is really into what they are reading or what is being read, do not discourage them by telling them lights out.
Look at it this way, would you rather your child lay awake staring at the ceiling, not being able to sleep, or would you rather them read another 10 minutes to sleep better? Also, in their mind, getting to stay up an additional 10 minutes is a big thing to them.
Visiting Your Local Library’s Children’s Department
If you haven’t done so already, make it a point to make a big event out of visiting your local library’s children’s department.
Usually, the people who work at the library are so pleasant and helpful, and they can help your child find books that would be of the most interest to them, which helps tremendously when it is time to get your child to listen to the story.
Getting their own library card can be a significant event in a youngster’s life. And a lot of libraries have computers set up with educational games for the children, as well.
This creates a pleasant association with choosing the books you will read together, and many children will then look forward to coming back each week, or however often you choose.
Reading Incentive
Another good thing to try is the reading incentive. Most libraries offer a reading program that gives the kids incentives to continue to read, even though school is out during the summertime.
These programs provide prizes to kids for so many books that they read, and every kid is eligible, even the ones that cannot read yet. If you cannot find a library near you with a reading program for the summer, you can create one at home yourself.
You can get a poster board and create a chart. Design the chart to explain what types of prizes they will receive once they get to a certain number of books read, but keep your child in mind when doing this because you will not want to set expectations too high. After all, this is the summer, and playing outside is a big part of summer vacation.
Create A “Reading Worm”
A great idea is to create a “Reading Worm.” You and your child can cut out circles from construction paper in all different colors or a certain color pattern your child likes best.
Then you cut out one big circle for the head and have your child decorate it however they like, maybe with pipe cleaners for antennae or plastic beady eyes, whatever they want.
Next, choose an area to display your reading worm and hang the head. You can use a wall or the refrigerator or even a special notebook.
For every book you read together, your child gets to choose a circle to add to the body. You can even have your child draw a picture on the circle inspired by the story or write the name of the book and the author.
Just have fun with it. Perhaps, you can create a small reward for every five or ten books you read together, such as a small ice cream cone or a matchbox car.
Your child will enjoy watching the worm get bigger and being able to see what they have accomplished.
Helping Fidgety Kids Stay Focused
If your child is fidgety or hyper and has a hard time sitting still for long, give him/her something quiet to play with right before storytime.
For whatever reason, your child may have a need to release excess energy, and having a ball of Play-Doh to knead and work with during story time can actually help them focus that energy in a contained and quiet way and will allow them to be more receptive to listening to the story.
All of these suggestions have been tried, and they do work, so what do you have to lose? Set some time aside for it every day and make reading a habit.