How to Make Your Child Read

I’m twenty years old and I read a lot. While it is still fresh in my memory I’ll tell you some clues as to how you can make your child interested in reading. Many parents would like their child to read, since from reading comes knowledge and who wouldn’t like a smart kid? Children can start reading as soon as they are thought to be and that is where a lot of parents make their first mistake. They seek a connection between learning how to read at school and liking to read. If you establish that connection, the child will enter puberty, the age when most kids dislike going to school and all of a sudden, reading will be a like a chore. It doesn’t mean that the child will never read again, but it won’t like the reading tasks they get for school. Now next I’ll give you some suggestions and hints how to approach the matter.

How to incite reading?

Do not:

-Force your kid to read certain books, set goals like one book a month or try to get to focus them by any other mean of force. The worst thing you can do is making the reading sound like something, which is necessary and that is in many kids eyes the opposite of fun. My parents tried to make me musical, but it backfired. Initially they tried to make me read books too and I only got into them later on.

Do:

-Go to bookshops and libraries, mind you, don’t go for your children. Go to a library, find a book and drop your kid/kids off at the youth section. There boredom will incite them to search entertainment and guess what, they’ll be surrounded by books.

-Read yourself. If your child sees you read a lot, it will not be hard for him or her to make the connection with: mommy or daddy must be having fun. If you are reading, your child can’t put on the television, as the sound will disturb you. When your child complains about it, suggest reading a book (make sure you have some books available).

-Supply them with books. Randomly buy them books, have some bookshelves available. Some books are killer-books for certain ages. They know how to hook people. Here are a few suggestions, I’m sure you can add to the list:

-R.L. Stine’s goose bumps series

-J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series

-J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit (act will there’s no movie yet)

These books are bestsellers for a reason. They know how to hook a reader, how to make them grab for the next book on the shelf. You can use that to incite children to read. You don’t have to go for bestseller novels; you can suggest any book that appealed to you as a kid. Keep in mind though that your kid may have different taste for books.

-Have their friends suggest books to them. What got me most into books, were the books friends suggested to me. Of course you can’t control your child’s friends, but think of a favorite older nephew or niece suggesting this adult book, now that’s what gets your child exited.

Those are the basic things. Remember don’t force, just give the opportunity, they may not grab for the books just yet, but once they do they will stick longer than if you’d have forced them. Try to express the coolness of books by allowing their older friends to suggest books that are cool. Use best-seller books as bait. Go to libraries and bookshops and most important of all: read books yourself. A child will seek to imitate his or her parents.