As every parent knows, reading is an important skill that all children should develop in order to have a bright future. We use reading in almost every aspect of our daily life and even without using it, reading opens up a world of possibilities for everyone.
It can be a world that is filled with colorful characters, amazing vocabulary and spectacular whimsies and it can be a world that encourages learning, and creativity. Reading is so important that many parents are often worried about reading skills before their child has even reached the age of reading.
Surprisingly, reading skills are one of the few developmental skills that can occur over a large range of age groups. At one time, we tended to focus on reading development occurring during the first few years of formal school education. Sure, children enjoyed a good story but they weren’t ready to read, were they? The answer is that some children are more than ready to read at ages as young as three while others tend to wait until they are about 7.
Another important part of that answer is that although formal reading education begins during the early years of school, the foundation for reading occurs from the time your baby is born until that fateful day when she picks up a book and reads it.
So what are some ways that you can encourage reading in your child? Experts throughout the years have had tons of advice on encouraging reading skills and although many of the steps that they promote do work, parents should not have to feel overwhelmed when it comes to encouraging reading in their children. Instead, they should just focus on the three steps outlined below and if they desire, they can build from there. After all, everything needs a strong foundation to be successful.
Provide the material:
One of the best ways to encourage reading is to actually provide the material. A home that doesn’t have books is not going to send a message to the children residing in it that reading is an important part of life. Make sure you have lots of books available to your children and make most of them age appropriate; however, make sure you have a few that are just above their current reading ability and age level. This aspires a continual growth in both interests and skills and your child won’t plateau as much as he would with only age appropriate materials being offered.
When you provide the material, it is important to take the time to actually offer it. Make a habit of reading with your child for about 15 minutes per day. This can be a story at bed time but it can also be a story during unplanned periods of time. An impromptu story time makes reading into a fun and leisure activity that can be enjoyed whenever the mood hits. Make sure that you start reading to your child in infancy to ensure a lifetime love of reading. If you are reading to your child, try your hand at some chapter books. This helps increase attention spans and keeps not only your child but yourself interested in reading.
Read:
One of the best ways to encourage reading in your child is to read yourself. This does not mean reading only magazines and newspapers but it should also mean opening up a novel or two a month. If your child sees you reading, he or she is more likely to emulate you and begin reading as well. It is very important for boys to see their father reading since a love of reading is something that is rarer in boys than it is in girls.
Pursue topics of interest:
Lastly, when you are encouraging reading in your child, it is important to really pursue topics of interest. Children thrive when they are learning and there is no limitations towards cracking open a book to discover new facts about a subject. This also teaches your child many other skills, such as cross referencing, vocabulary building, and researching skills that will aid them in school.
When you are pursuing topics of interest, give and take conversations, especially about facts found in books, will help in raising the interest and this will lead to more research. And we all know what more research means; more reading.
Encouraging your child to read is not always an easy task but if you start at a young age, you will feel confident that your child will have a life time filled with reading.