When your child doesn’t want to read
As a little girl, I loved to read. My parents encouraged my love of books by taking me to the library to select books I enjoyed and by allowing me to buy books with records that I could play and read along to. I remember sitting in my room for hours reading along to Casper the Friendly Ghost, Curious George and many fairytales. For me, books were an escape from boredom and allowed me to use my imagination.
When I had my own children, I assumed that they would love reading just as much as me. From the beginning I had books in the house, I read to them, I showed them pictures and did what all the parenting experts told me to do. They always enjoyed it when I read to them and they still do. What I wasn’t expecting was for them to protest doing their school home reading. From JK it was a battle to get them to do their home reading. They didn’t seem interested in the books that were coming home from school. It was a struggle. As someone who reads and writes, it was difficult for me to accept that my children were not going to enjoy the benefits of reading. I set out to find a way to encourage them to enjoy reading. Fortunately, their Dad and I are both readers and model reading to them on a regular basis.
My children are 7 and 9 and are now reading very regularly. Here are some tips to foster the love of reading in your children:
1. Start from birth! Cuddling and reading to baby is the beginning of early literacy but is also a time to bond and connect with your little one. There are great benefits to baby’s brain development as well. Reading to your baby will build vocabulary, stimulate imagination and improve communication skills. Plus, reading on a daily basis makes it part of baby’s routine and a great habit to build into their daily routine.
2. As your child grows, allow them to select books with topics that appeal to them. Whether it is comic books, cook books, or graphic novels, it is a way for them to practice their reading and use their imagination.
3. Use newspapers, blogs, and magazines. Reading doesn’t always have to come from a book. You can encourage them to read magazines that interest them, blogs or even the comic section of the newspaper.
4. Ask questions. Ask them questions about what they’ve read. Talk about alternate endings to a story.
5. Write stories as a family. One way to encourage their love of reading and writing is by doing a family story. Each family member takes turns writing the next sentence in the story. It makes for a lot of fun and laughs and creates a bonding opportunity for the family while practicing literacy in a fun way.
6. Don’t be pushy. Nagging or explaining why it is important to read is the equivalent of explaining why they need to take vitamins. Find ways to make reading fun and not a chore. Use themed books surrounding certain seasons. Visit the library regularly or make a visit to a book store and allow them to book their own book to purchase as a special treat.
I often enjoy looking at our library of books. We have books that I bought based on my love of stories but as my boys get older our library has expanded to comic books, Minecraft How-to’s, joke books, science books, Lego and Star Wars! Regardless of what they’re reading, there is nothing that makes me smile more than seeing them curled up on their bed reading a book!
Patti Berardi,
Chair – Kids Can Fly