10 Ways to Help You Raise Kids Who Love Reading
Monday December 29, 2008
I love to write New Year's resolutions. Somehow, seeing the resolutions in print makes me get more serious about them. See my 10 Ways to Help You Raise Kids Who Love Reading: Resolutions for Parents on Raising a Reader for helpful tips and resources. In my list are both strategies and recommended books, including Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever, by Mem Fox, Australian children's books author and literacy consultant; The Read-Aloud Handbook, by reading aloud advocate Jim Trelease; and Baby Read-Aloud Basics, by certified Reading Recovery teachers Caroline J. Blakemore and Barbara Weston Ramirez. Take a look at my entire list. Then, click on "Comments" below and let me know if you have other resolutions to suggest.
(Cover art courtesy of Harcourt)
Comments
I know this is important but sometimes I forget to do it. So I try to read lengthier books that we have to remember to finish. Even if we’re just reading something that is coming out as a movie soon or something else - it’s time together, reading.
You are so right about the importance of seeing a resolution in print. It makes it more concrete and harder to dodge. It’s also so nice to make a resolution that’s fun to keep, like going to the library. (Beats skipping dessert!)
I loved your point about using the dictionary. When I was growing up, we had a set of World Book encyclopedias a few feet away from the kitchen table. We seldom made it through a meal without someone going to look something up. Today we do a lot of that kind of research online, but I still think it is wonderful to have reference books around.
I thought the suggestions about using the library were great. I have a friend who only allows her two kids to take out one book at a time because she doesn’t want to keep track of books and incur fines. I have three kids and I let them take out as many as the library will allow. We have spent more than I care to admit on library fines but they are worth it.
Even if we don’t get to all the books before they are due, the kids love having that variety to choose from. I have one who struggles with reading and so finding the right books can be a challenge but the librarian are always helpful.
Thanks for the great advice! My son loves books… well, mostly opening and closing them. But slowly you can see he understands that a story is happening and his vocabulary is really growing.
I loved the suggestion about creating a reading space for us! I think that will go a long way to developing lasting habits.
These are great suggestions and I am glad to note that we are already doing most of them! Another thing I would add is to let kids’ interests guide their reading when they can. I would rather read well-written classics but sometimes my daughter wants a cheesy Barbie story. Well–at least she is reading!
I think your ten strategies are great. We’ve done a lot of them as well, and they’ve helped us quite a bit, both with reading appreciation and skill development.
We made reading to our nearly 4-year-old routine from nearly Day 1. Now he is so in love with it that he can’t go to sleep without reading at least two books before bed. And we generally are reading much more than that throughout the day. He’s 1-year-old brother seems to be getting hooked as well. He loves nothing more than to grab his favorite books (right now mostly animal picture books) and back in to sit on your lap and have at it. I’m guessing this will eventually lead to a joy of reading. We can only hope anyway.