Many parents and teachers know how difficult encouraging a child who is a reluctant reader to read can be. There are many strategies to help your child develop an interest in reading, but be patient, it may not happen overnight. Most experts recommend coming up with hands on activities that get your child involved with books and storytelling. Using a variety of interactive activities to help make reading fun for children is the first step to raising a budding book lover.
Studies have shown that carving out 20 or 30 minutes to read aloud to your child every night is an important part of raising a strong reader. Once children become independent readers, they can use some of that time to read to you. Parents may wonder what kinds of books they should have around in order to spark their children’s interest. A key part of raising a book lover is to have a home with lots of books in it! Children should be able to choose from a home library of their favorite volumes and a rotating selection of new possibilities. Common advice to parents of young children is to get a library card. In my experience this has been a real life-saver. Your local library should offer not only board books, picture books, easy readers, and chapter books, but also books-on-tape, DVDs, sometimes even games and puzzles, all for free. Most libraries also host regular reading-related programming for children of all ages, from toddlers to teenagers, to participate in. Making weekly visits to the library so that your children can pick out new books that interest them is a great way to make reading fun.
However, library books must be returned. While using the public library is a fabulous way to save money and expose your child to new authors and subjects, I’ve also found that kids also really enjoy having some books of their own. Like a favorite doll or other toy, children can develop a connection to their favorite books. There are accessories to a personal library that children really enjoy and the most popular and helpful in this famous process of getting your kid to love books are personalized book labels. One of the first words that many children learn to write is their first name. With book labels, kids can affix their name to a favorite book, creating a sense of ownership and connection. Some companies also offer the possibility of having your child’s name inserted throughout an activity book or easy reader. Imagine your child’s glee when their name crops up in the middle of a story, as if the book was talking directly to them. Kids love to see their name in print, and this personal connection can help encourage reluctant reader to sticks with the more difficult literacy or numeracy concepts that books for young learners strive to teach. Personalized book labels for kids are designed with care and are made by professionals who know how kids respond to visual aids so the variety of labels help your kids in more ways than one. They are stimulating and fun, so kids don’t get the impression of ‘hard work’ while reading.
Another important part of keeping reading fun is buying books that you know will interest your child. You may know that your child likes a certain subject, like trucks or ants, or that your child enjoys pouring over the work of a certain illustrator. Your child may be interested in reading personalized books or titles about characters with the same name as them. Knowing your child’s interests and trying to cater to them will ensure that your child will return to their favorite books again and again.
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Sashka is a writer from Australia. She writes about lifestyle, new trends, child care, gift ideas. She likes searching for creative and useful ideas related to these topics to incorporate in her writing.
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