How to Get Your Child Interested in Reading

How to get your child interested in reading can be challenging these days. Many children need the motion of t.v. or a video game to keep their attention or interest. But in reality, reading is the best thing a child can do to become better readers and better students. Reading is essential in life. You need to read math problems, you need to read a recipe, you need to read how to do something, and you need to read for enjoyment. So, how do you get there, enjoyment? 

As a teacher, I can tell you, reading is the best thing a child can do to keep learning and growing. When children read, they learn new words and their vocabulary grows. They comprehend better when they can create images in their mind and see the story playing out. Children's background knowledge grows too when they read. They will learn new things and new ideas. When children are exposed to new ideas, they learn more. When other ideas become introduced, they will be easier to learn.

You may think that books are disappearing these days, but that's not the case. Libraries are full of books. You are still able to check out books for free. A librarian can help you find the right book to read for your child.

Here are a few ways to get your child interested in reading: 

• One way to help get your child interested in reading is to read aloud to them. Picture books are great for the young students. As students become school age, chapter books should be introduced. Reading a chapter book to your child will help your child become interested in reading. Research supports that when we read books aloud to children it will help them succeed in reading. When students are better readers, they will read more. When stories are read together, you are able to discuss the story events and play out the story together. If you read, the story flows faster and you can model for your child good reading tactics. Plus, you'll be able to ask them questions to see if they are paying attention to the story. Reading aloud to your child will help get your child interested in reading because you are interested in reading to them. Here are some good read alouds that I have used that get students interested in reading: The Chocolate Touch, Island of the Blue Dolphins, Mr. Popper's Penguins, and The BFG. All of these listed are kid friendly and might spark some interest in reading.      

• Another way to help students become interested in reading is to host a literature circle. This is like a group of friends getting together to talk about the book. As adults, you are to read a book and then discuss it with your friends. As elementary children, it's best to read one chapter at a time and then discuss. You can do this many ways. You read a chapter and your child reads the same chapter. Then, you come together to discuss. Or you can read the chapter together. When reading together, you can see and hear how your child is reading. You can learn alot about your child when you hear them read out loud. When you come together to discuss, ask each other questions about the book, talk about the characters and start to establish the elements in a book like setting, problem, and solution. Discussion of a books helps students understand the story better, and they will hopefully be drawn in to keep reading to finish the story. One way to start this is to read a series of books, like "Magic Tree House". Start with book 1 to read together,  then read book 2, and so on. Here are some good reading series: The Magic Tree House, Ivy and Bean, Little House, Goosebumps, Boxcar Children  

• A fun way to interest your child in reading is to find other things to read besides books. Magazines are a great way to spark some reading in your child. Many students need more nonfiction reading and magazines are one way to incorporate more nonfiction reading. Also, comic books are great to get students interested in reading. Comics are not really in book format, but they follow the same story elements a book has in it. Reading a recipe is great for reading too. Recipes make you follow directions from start to finish. If you can get your child interested in reading with magazines or comic books, these are great starts. Make sure to move over to chapter books and read a variety of material too. Sticking to one kind of reading is not always ideal. Here are some magazines to try from Amazon that are perfect for kids: National Geographic for Kids, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Ranger Rick Jr.

• Writing a story and drawing pictures to match the story line is another way to get your child interested in reading. Students can write and draw their own version of the story that they just read or continue the story as if it were to keep going. Writing is another way students can get interested in reading. It's a way for them to create a story and let their imagination go. Reading and writing go so well together. Here are some paper examples for writing stories: Picture Story Paper, Creative Picture Paper, K-1 Story Paper, and Draw and Write Journal. I linked the paper examples to Amazon to make it easy for you to view.  

The more children read, the better they get at it. When starting to read, it's really hard to get into it and follow a story. If a child reads everyday, they will get better at it and begin to get into it. You must practice at something to become good at it, right? Try to find a way to get your child to read more each day. Once children become interested in reading, they will become successful in school. Easier said than done, right?

Thanks for stopping by today!
Happy Reading.
See you soon,