Help Your Children to Love Reading
By Tracy Catarius
It is so important to create an environment that promotes the love of reading. Not only is
reading necessary for survival in today's world, it is educational, it sparks imagination, it
is a stress reliever, provides entertainment and enjoyment, the list goes on. Here are some
ideas to help you help your child love reading.
· The most important thing a parent can do to teach a child to love reading is for the
parent to let the children see how much you love reading. You need to set the example.
· Set aside a time each day when everyone in the family reads. Perhaps it is for half an
hour after school or before bed every day. Be consistent.
· Read to your children. Even after they are old enough to read themselves, it is still a
treat to have a parent read to them.
· Never punish your child by taking away books.
· Share books you loved growing up.
· Create a tradition of reading one chapter from a book each night before bed. I
remember a teacher in the fifth grade would read a chapter each day from "Mrs. Frisby
and the Rats of Nimh" by Zena Bernstein (Illustrator) and Robert C. O'Brien (Author). I
looked forward to class every day so I could find out what happened next!
· Start a family book club. Everyone reads the same book and pick a night to discuss
it. I suggest checking out copies from the library, I wouldn't want to buy several copies of
the same book. Or you can take turns reading from the same book.
· Every child should have a reading nook in his or her bedroom. A simple beanbag
chair or other cozy chair, a small table with a reading lamp and a small bookcase are all
that is needed. If space is especially limited, just a comfy chair and reading lamp will
· Creating a calming, relaxing space in your child's room is also important. There
should be no television or video games in the bedroom. The room should also be neat
and not have a lot of stuff. Studies show simplicity and neatness are calming where a lot
of stuff or messiness can clutter the mind.
· If your children are small, perhaps the reading nook should be either in a common
room or the parent and child should each have a chair in the child's room.
· Let your child choose his or her own books. Don't limit the reading material (within
reason) they choose. If s/he wants to read educational books, comic books or music
magazines, let him/her. The goal is to let your child love reading.
· If all your child wants to read is magazines or other reading material you consider
not great, then perhaps you can find something your child is very interested in and find
books on that subject. If your son is only interested in reading music magazines, perhaps
you can buy books such as a biography on one of his favorite musicians, books on
musical history, books that teach how to play music, etc.
I hope you find some useful ideas. Remember, the family that reads together, stays
together. Have fun!
Tracy Catarius,(firstname.lastname@example.org, http://www.greatestkidsbooks.com), is the owner of
Greatest Kid's books, a site devoted to children's education and Mattcmama's, a resource
site for parents. You can visit these sites here: http://www.greatestkidsbooks.com and
http://www.mattcmamas.com. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and is the
mother of one son and one daughter. She also has a personal family library of
approximately 1,000 books on various subjects.