How to Teach Your Child to Love Reading

Reading is one of the oldest cultivated habits of mankind, which is continuing till date and only the format and language changes. Despite changing mediums, the main aim of reading is to collect and preserve information. One of the other main purposes of the reading is to inoculate the habit to experience new ideas and scenarios which may not be seen or heard just like in the nonfiction genre of books. Reading habits are passed on from one generation to the other. But with changing times the reading patterns have changed too. It is simply not about a book anymore. It has many aspects like visual appeal, buzz, virality factor on social media, views, etc attached to it. Though reading on social media is popular among youngsters, children and older age groups still prefer reading books. But developing the habit of reading among kids is a challenging job. So, we will discuss different ways to tell “How to Teach Your Child To Love Reading”?

Before that there are some basic reading rules which parents and teachers should follow so that a child especially kids (in kindergarten and primary classes) develops correct reading pattern:

1. Focus should be on the letter sounds:

For a young child to read out a word, the letter sound plays an important role. Learning the sound a letter produces when spoken makes it easier to learn the different words rather than just learning the alphabet.

2. Using uppercase letters are more effective:

Learning alphabets with uppercase (capital) is more effective and easier for kids to remember and learn. Like b and d are so similar that most of the kids are not able to differentiate in lowercase but the same alphabets B and D are completely different in uppercase. Thus a child learns it easily and quickly.

3. Converse with your kids as much as possible:

Reading is not only learnt from reading the books, in fact conversations are one of the best ways to learn how to pronounce a word and where it can be used via conversations.

4. Keep the reading material simple and interesting:

Always remember reading is a new thing for a child and kid just like he learns walking, talking, eating, speaking etc. reading is also a skill which a child learns with progression of time in a different manner due to difference in language. So in order to teach reading to any child the material simplicity is also vital because if the material is too tough to read then the child will not develop any interest in reading the material. Material with pictures attracts the most. That is why story books and children books are so colorful and attractive to look at.

5. Practice is the key:

Even if a child starts reading with time but is not regular in his reading habits then the result will not be that encouraging. So to overcome that the reading time may be shortened but regularity is important as it will help in developing a memory about the process and will remember it again and again.

How to make child fall in love with reading:

After all these basic rules now comes the key factors with which Will make a child to fall in love with reading, they are as follows:

1. What they see, they follow:

This means if the kids see parents, grandparents reading books, magazines, newspapers, etc on a regular basis then automatically they will be attracted towards the reading. You must have seen especially with young kids that they read easily when they are in school premises but they do not enjoy reading at home. That’s the effect of the environment around the kid.

2. Parents and teachers should not differentiate the reading material good or bad:

This is one of the commonest mistakes any parent or teacher can make by calling reading material good or bad and it can put an adverse effect on a child’s thinking too. This can create prejudiced notions in the head of the child whenever he or she starts reading something on his own. So never ever stop a child to read by calling it good or bad. Just encourage him to read and try to read with him.

3. Plan activities with child friends which involves reading:

Like every child, any child prefers to do activities with his/her own friends. So, keeping that comfort in mind for children, parents can plan different activities which are based on reading like story reading sessions, enacting stories, forming book/ read clubs, making library cards for kids with at least five to seven reads fortnight, etc. Such activities help in multiple ways like it helps in enhancing communication skills, reading skills, vocabulary, speech and diction, life skills such as sharing, caring, expressing emotions and many more.

Also Read – What Makes A Book Worth Reading?

4. Buy books whenever it’s possible for kids in front of them:

When a kid sees a parent investing in a book for himself or for the kid then he understands that this is an important thing for the family and for him too. As when money is spent on anything it is either done mainly for the basic needs or for the entertainment purpose in life. So when buying a book becomes a routine for the family, it automatically attracts the kid to read. Slowly converting it into a habit.

5. Tell the importance of reading in fun ways to the kids:

Well in a few days a child will not become a voracious reader and it is not required also. It’s not mandatory that a voracious reader is the only way to become a good reader. A good reader is the one who enjoys the experience of reading the writer’s viewpoint and travels that world with him. To do so a wide variety of books needs to be explored so that the child understands which genre attracts him the most. But variety is not the key here, the main thing is how to make a child attracted towards books so that you can take your child to book fairs, libraries, book launches of kids books, events related to kids which enhances reading with coloring, drawing, sketching or enacting, etc.

There are many simple and easy ways which can help your child to develop a love for reading but remember this is a habit so it needs to be done on a regular basis. So that child himself starts picking up books on his own, once this happens then slowly spending reading time on weekend or fortnightly basis parents should interact and talk about the book he/she has read in that span. The aim of reading is to gather information and use that whenever it is required by the child or for that matter his friends. Reading is a personal habit which is an amalgamation of small personal inputs like regularity, eagerness to know something new, speech, etc. So, for a better future for the new generation reading should be promoted all over the globe irrespective of the medium used.