I spent some time with one of life long friends. We both have children who are early readers. Here are 4 things that we both do with our children to get and keep them excited about reading.
1. Model, Model, Model!
Children love to mimic their parents and other adults they see. During pretend play, children oftentimes “cook” in play kitchens or “doctor” stuff animals. It is important that we model the behaviors we want to see in our children. This is definitely true in reading. Let your children see you reading. Sit down often and read a book, a magazine, or a newspaper near your children even if they are engaged in a different task. Our children are always watching us! I know as moms we sometimes feel we do not have time to sit because we have so many mom duties. We have to think of this as a mom duty.
Nowadays this can be hard to model because a lot of us read on our eBooks on a tablet device. A good work around to this is to download a few free (or close to it) eBooks for children from amazon and make it a part of the routine (see #2 below). This way they will recognize eBooks as reading and won’t assume that you are just playing on your tablet.
2. Make reading part of your daily routine.
Kids like structure. A nighttime routine is a positive for all involved. Our routine is show, bath, story, and prayers. This has been our routine with my daughter since she was 1 and we very rarely deviate from it. She gets to watch one show (now she loves The Magic School Bus) and gets her bath. Once she gets her pajamas on, she picks any story she wants her daddy to read to her. We get books from resale establishments, library and asking people with older children to give books to her. As she started to learn her letter sounds, he started to ask her to try to read some words. Although the routine has not changed, she now insists on reading to him. They may take turns and read every other page or she will read to him. This is EVERY night.
When my husband is out-of-town on business, he does call to pray with her, but I have story duty. What I do is very different from him. I download a free (or close to free) eBook for children from amazon.com. I download it to the tablet and we take turns reading the book from the tablet . This is one way that model (see #1 above) that books are hard copies or electronic.
Here are links to few free eBooks for children that I found on amazon today (prices are subject to change/affiliate link):
Lily Lemon Blossom Welcome to Lily’s Room
Orangey the Goldfish (Book 1)
The Wheels on the Bus: A Sing ‘N Move Book
kids books: Terry Treetop and the Lost Egg: (Animal habitats) (values book) (Rhymes eBook) (Adventure & Education for children) (Bedtime Stories Children’s Books for Early / Beginner Readers Book 3)
Lessons from the Lion, the Ox and their little friends (illustrated) (Four fables from Aesop)
Children’s Book – Petal’s First Winter (Petal the Owl)
3. Out and About
A fun way to read is when you are out and about. You can start this as soon as your child can recognize letters. You could play I spy with letters. Read street signs, store names, billboards, menus, sale signs and advertisements while out and about. With my daughter, as time passed, would try to read signs to me or asked me what random things say. She now makes sure I know the speed limit on every street we ride on as well as the name of the each street we pass. Read around you children all the time.
4. Local Library
Take your child to get a Library card. Have them pick a few books to place into your daily routine. Take them often to return books and check more out of the library. Libraries also have age-appropriate reading activities scheduled throughout out the month.
This is just 4 of the many ways to get children excited about reading. What ways would you add to this list? Please share in the comments section.
Thanks!
Faith, Family and Health!