I mentioned in part twothat I am not modelling to my children the importance of reading. I seldom listen to them read aloud and I seldom read to them. That’s been a role that Daddy has enjoyed, but recently he has been working silly hours and I’ve not stepped up to the mark.
Things need to change. Reading opens up some many amazing places in the imagination and lets not even start about the development of creativity, language skills and understanding.
So how can I get my children reading more?
Here are My 5 Tips for getting children to read more.
- Get them reading at bed time. Turn off all electrical items and let them have some down time reading.
- Get them to a library. Take the time to help them choose some books that are within their reading level and the attracts their attention and interest. (A huge challenge for boys)
- Discuss the books that they are reading. What do you think happened next? Why? Why do you think the author wrote that? Which story have you enjoyed the most/ least? Why? Getting children to answer what/ where/ how/ why questions gets them thinking.
- Think outside the box– magazines, recipes, blogs, ebooks, non-fiction, facts at museums and zoos etc still require reading skills.
And the biggy…
5. Read aloud to them. This is the one that I personally find the hardest- but it is a great opportunity to introduce books and authors that the children might not necessarily read.
So, I am going to change the reading situation in our household. I am going to start reading more myself (but I will keep the more gripping novels for the holidays or flights back to the UK!) and I am going to implement My 5 Tips for getting children to read more!
To start, I will bring back bedtime reading both quietly and aloud, and as we are currently enjoying our summer holidys, I will introduce a reading challenge to the family. I will also introduce the girls to Laura Ingles Wilder. I loved her Little House books and I think they will appeal to my girls sense of adventure.
I will post an update on how everyone’s reading is going!
Please feel free to share how you get yourself and your family reading.
Somedays by C 
Hi!I just started following your blog. I have a 6 year old son. We do all of your tips on reading that you’ve listed. On Saturday’s at our local library there is craft time. So, we go for the craft then he picks out books that is appealing to him. That’s a big thing with young readers. If they find the material boring, they won’t be enthused about it. So I always let my boy pick his own books to read or be read to. That is how I encourage him to read even more. 🙂 We also set aside a mandatory SRS as a family. Everyone picks out a book they want and sits down for at least 15 minutes. We all end up sitting for longer than that, but we all enjoy the time together. We’ll talk about what we’ve read too. 🙂
Hi Thanks for following me and for your tips. I love your idea about a family SRS- a great way to get the family reading and to talking about what has been read.
No problem! He is starting to learn his spelling words right now. I think we’ll start family journaling as well. 🙂
Holiday journals are a lovely reminder of what you’ve done and a great way of getting the children to read.
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