Ways To Encourage Your Child To Read More

Opening a book may sometimes be as simple as travelling the world, across time, and through space. Parents usually hear all the time that it is important for children to read books. But why is that? What makes reading such an integral part of growing up?  

Instilling a love for reading in your child is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. Reading not only broadens their knowledge and vocabulary but also fosters imagination, creativity, and critical thinking. However, in today's digital age, getting children to pick up a book can be challenging.

In this blog, we’ll explore effective and enjoyable ways to encourage your child to read more and develop a lifelong passion for books.

What are some of the benefits of reading in children?

1. Creativity and imagination

• Books foster a variety of fictional and non-fictional stories that enable the child to go beyond the real world and enter the one with fantasies and vivid imaginations.
• The child then simply develops a habit of thinking out of the box.
• It makes the child inquisitive, emotionally active and boosts their power of imagination.
• Research suggests that creativity is crucial for developing interests and ideas.

2. Advances literary skill

• Reading introduces children to a variety of new words and sentences, with regular reading practices the child starts remembering those new words and in turn, uses them while conversing with others.
• This adds up to their vocabulary and language development. A 2019 research says that kids who read regularly during the five years before kindergarten were exposed to 1.4 million more words than kids who weren’t.

3. Improves relations between parent and child

• Sometimes parents tend to read out to their children either during their bedtime schedule or while educating them.
• This improves bonding between the parent and the child. Reading gives parents the chance to create a routine and shared activity that both they and their children may look forward to.
• Additionally, it gives kids the attention, affection, and reassurance they need to feel nurtured and secure.

4. Cultivating empathy

• While reading a book one completely gets engrossed in the tale of the story, which makes the child feel like he/she is living the story in reality.
• The child develops a bond with the character and by experiencing the lives of other characters he/she will be able to relate to their emotions, enabling them to build empathy.
• Children can then apply this knowledge to empathise with others in the actual world.

How to attract children into the world of books?

Reading is considered to be mundane by many children, but when you make it interesting right from the beginning, it builds a boost in your child’s personality.

Here are a few ways parents can encourage their toddlers to read:

1. Read aloud to your child

• A baby can watch photos and hear your voice even in infancy. So, read aloud to your kid while naming the objects that appear in the photographs as you point them on the pages.
• This gives your child two sources of knowledge: a comprehension of actual objects and a comprehension of the value of words.

2. Maintain a routine of reading to your child daily

• Do your best to read to your child each day and keep practice going.
• Put this into your child’s, and your own daily routine so that it gets imbibed in them like a habit such as having a bath or drinking water.

3. Make it interesting by showing excitement

• Choose such books to read which have a lot of bold writing and coloured photographs which will excite the child.
• The child will get even more engaged when the parent also shows excitement while reading those stories.
• Try reading in different voices or singing songs and reciting poems according to the character depicted in the story.

4. Pay a visit to your local library

• Your child’s curiosity will grow if you take them to the library and surround them with a variety of books.
• After the child reaches a certain age of beginning school in nursery school, preschool, or elementary school, parents must take extra efforts to maintain their reading habits.
• Numerous studies have shown that as individuals go through the years of schooling, reading frequently becomes an orphaned task. Here are some of the ways to encourage reading in school-going children.

5. Participate in your child’s school activities

• Parents should not assume that it is the teacher’s sole responsibility to be a reading model.
• Therefore, it is important for parents to keep up with their child’s school homework and make sure they complete their reading practices.

6. Support your kid in practicing reading aloud

• Listen to your kid read aloud frequently and give him/her positive feedback when they do so. Offer to read your child a page or even a chapter every once in a while.
• Also, have open discussions and debates regarding the book.

7. Give your child writing material

• Reading and writing are two pieces of the same puzzle. It is advised that you provide your child with writing practices as well.
• Writing and reading at the same time improves vocabulary and all-around abilities.
• Another benefit is that if your child receives regular writing practices, they will acquire quick writing habits.

8. Establish a daily reading period, even if it is for short duration

• Make sure your child's room has a nice reading light, and fill his/her bookcases with periodicals and books that are simple to read and access.
• Set a daily time period for your child where he/she reads and make sure to start having discussions about the book or chapter that your child has just read.
• Ask questions and be interested in the answers as well.

Conclusion

Reading should be portrayed as a fun activity. It should let you escape the daily stress and enter a completely new universe, rather than as something that must be forced in order to gain abilities. Since early childhood, children should be made aware of the benefits of reading so they can develop it as a pastime or habit.

You should do your best to make sure that your kid enters school with a solid foundation in language and literacy-related abilities along with the desire to learn. This will enable your child to succeed in school, as well as later in life. Remember, children’s actions become habits that have a big impact on their lives in the future.