Reading with Children - How can we encourage our children to learn to enjoy reading?

How can we encourage our children to learn to enjoy reading?

As a college teacher, sadly, I see many high school graduates pass my way who have great difficulty reading any book, text or otherwise. They often show a great distain for reading. This includes material presented on-line. I have seen how the love for reading developed early in childhood carries over to make a person an effective reader of material necessary to function and perform adequately in our modern society. I also know that it takes time and practice to become an effective reader, thus, the time and conditions necessary to integrate readership into ones life involve more than just the time spent and text material supplied in school. As parents, what techniques have you used at home to encourage and continue to encourage your children to develop a love for reading?

Public Comments

Start them off reading at a young age. Maybe teach them to read during potty training.
My husband and I got rid of cable because it's soooooooo expensive and because we're more often entertained by a novel anyway... So we read to our sons and we always read in front of them, so they can see that it's a part of our lives. Our oldest is four years old now and he reads just as much as we do. (Yes, he can read many words.) He's also started dictating some hilarious stories to us. I think it's all in being an example to the kids... showing them how fun it can be to use your imagination.
I read to my kids every night. Sometimes, I read in English: sometimes in their secondary language. Sometimes...I let THEM read to me!
I'm not a parent, but I can say my mom read to me a lot when I was little. That helps start the process. I guess past that, the motivation would have to come from supplying material of interest to the individual. I know a guy who only reads Car Magazines and not much else ... hey, he's reading and learning so it'll have to do ;)
I read a lot as does my wife. When my 2 children were babies we started reading to them. Before they could even speak. I know this help with their speech development as it did with their love of reading. We always treated reading and books as a special treat. Both of my children are heavy readers. For years now that they are adults, we have been trading books back and forth. We discuss them and argue about them and appreciate them.
By reading ourselves. Role models are the best tool. Kelly
Just introduce them to books from an early age, read to them every night and teach them to read as soon as they are ready. That's what my parents did with me.
For me, I try to find books that are about specific things my children have either expressed a great interest in or have experienced. For example, my son loves dinosaurs, so I find him books that may he learn more about them. My daughter recently got glasses, so I found three fiction books about young girls first getting glasses. One of the books was part of a series. She now feels a connection to the main character and has begun reading the series. I have always been an avid reader and I teach my children by example. It is not unusual to find all three of us sitting outside, reading together. Their father rarely reads, so I do what I can to encourage them to keep up with reading. Rather than watching TV before bed, we have a half hour of reading time. I treat as a reward rather than forcing them. If you find the right books, it works very well.
I too as a teacher find my students lack reading interest atall. I think they should be taken to libraries and book fairs whenever possible from their young age itself. May be if they come across some interesting books that caters to their needs they will gradually start reading. They should be encouraged to read tjhe daily papers too. Because of the lack of reading skills they fall short in their writing skill and they lack exposure to developments in mulfarious fields that will help them in their future career. I hope all children will develop the habit of reading.
Unfortunately, at a college level there's not much you can do anymore. My children love reading. So much, in fact, that they get in trouble for it, staying up past bedtime, reading when the teacher is talking. I read to them as babies, and we read together even now (they are 10 and 13) almost every evening. We take turns reading, when my eyes or voice get tired, or I have to go make dinner or whatever, I pass the book off to one of the kids or my mate. We read books most kids don't read until College, like Homer, Shakespear, Tolkein and also kids books, like Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket. We act out plays with stuffed animals, and we go see the movies together and talk about how we could have done it better. I don't get all literary and theoretical with them but sometimes they do it to me. My son(aged 9) once came out spontaneously with "You know, in Much Ado About Nothing, there's actually three separate plots! I just realized that!" He was nine. I told him Shakespear does that alot, and he wanted to go home and read the other plays again and see, so we did, this time actively looking for themes. Sometimes we'll be watching a movie or reading a book and a character will come up from another book or story. This happens alot with the classics, as I'm sure you know and he'll say, "OH I remember that. What story is that from?" and then we'll have to go back and read the other story, or look up stuff on the internet about that God or hero or whatever. My mate and I read to each other too, books that interest us and share that way, often nonfiction. When we are apart, we read to each other over the phone as a way to stay connected without having to come up with something intelligent to say. My kids associate reading with intimacy (not the sexual kind!), and it's really a family value in our house. Of course, I'm sure it helps that we don't have a television.
i always would get to the best part and stop if they wanted to find out what happen they would have to read it themselves.
Others have said it already, but I'm going to repeat it. Parents should start reading to their children practically from the day they are born. Also, keep the kids away from the television, at least until they are old enough to read and know that books are SO much better. As Willy Wonka's Oompa-Loompas sang, "The most important thing we've learned, So far as children are concerned, Is never, NEVER, NEVER let Them near your television set– Or better still, just don't install The idiotic thing at all. In almost every house we've been, We've watched them gaping at the screen. They loll and slop and lounge about, And stare until their eyes pop out. (Last week in someone's place we saw A dozen eyeballs on the floor.) They sit and stare and stare and sit Until they're hypnotised by it, Until they're absolutely drunk With all the shocking ghastly junk. Oh yes, we know it keeps them still, They don't climb out the window sill, They never fight or kick or punch, They leave you free to cook the lunch And wash the dishes in the sink– But did you ever stop to think, To wonder just exactly what This does to your beloved tot? IT ROTS THE SENSES IN THE HEAD! IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD! IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND! IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND! HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE! HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE! HE CANNOT THINK–HE ONLY SEES! 'All right!' you'll cry. 'All right!' you'll say, 'But if we take the set away, What shall we do to entertain Our darling children? Please explain!' We'll answer this by asking you, 'What used the darling ones to do? 'How used they keep themselves contented Before this monster was invented?' Have you forgotten? Don't you know? We'll say it very loud and slow: THEY...USED...TO...READ! They'd READ and READ, AND READ and READ, and then proceed To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks! One half their lives was reading books! The nursery shelves held books galore! Books cluttered up the nursery floor! And in the bedroom, by the bed, More books were waiting to be read! Such wondrous, fine, fantastic takes Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales And treasure isles, and distant shores Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars, And pirates wearing purple pants, And sailing ships and elephants, And cannibals crouching 'round the pot, Stirring away at something hot. (It smells so good, what can it be? Good gracious, it's Penelope.) The younger ones had Beatrix Potter With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter, And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland, And Mrs. Tiggy–Winkle and– Just How The Camel Got His Hump, And How The Monkey Lost His Rump, And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul, There's Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole– Oh, books, what books they used to know, Those children living long ago! So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install A lovely bookshelf on the wall. Then fill the shelves with lots of books, Ignoring all the dirty looks, The screams and yells, the bites and kicks, And children hitting you with sticks– Fear not, because we promise you That, in about a week or two Of having nothing else to do, They'll now begin to feel the need Of having something good to read. And once they start–oh boy, oh boy! You watch the slowly growing joy That fills their hears. They'll grow so keen They'll wonder what they'd ever seen In that ridiculous machine, That nauseating, foul, unclean, Repulsive television screen! And later, each and every kid Will love you more for what you did. P.S. Regarding Mike Teavee, We very much regret that we Shall simply have to wait and see If we can get him back his height. But if we can't–it serves him right."
I think parents should start off by reading to children at home at a very young age. Make time for reading. Maybe, before they go to bed, read a story. Also, they should take advantage of local public libraries. Storytimes, lap sits and other programs are offered throughout the year. This is a good time to go to the library, see what's there and take out some books! There are great picture books for young children, chapter books for the older set. Also, YA (Young Adult) literature is wonderful- ask the YA Librarian for ideas and suggestions. Parents should be good role models for their children. If they like reading, the kids will too. Oh yeah, turn off the tv for a while and pick up a book or two.
It depends on what they are intrested in . Start at a young age. PLus book aren't everyone's thing. But to really catch some children's attention you shouldn't babble on about the story. Let the children fill the rest in. If it is a picture book with one sentence on each page, you should ask them about what THEY think will happen next. Maybe that will get them into the story and make them want to read more.
I find that story's that are adventurous can be very good like Harry Potter start a book club
I remember what my dad did was he read a book to me every night before i went to bed at night, and if it wasen't my dad it was my mom and now i just pick up whatever book i am reading and read it before i go to bed. So I would say just read to your kids. I think it will work.
I think it's important for parents to do three things really: 1) read to their children regularly 2) read themselves (beit magazines or books) in other words show that reading is an important part of their daily lives 3) expose kids to the world of books by taking them to the library or buying them books and creating a home library. Also I think at a certain point, parents need to let kids choose their own reading material. Schools are so into controlling what books kids read--required reading and whatnot--that there needs to be freedom.
Will reading to children is something one can do each day. This will get children into the joy of reading and maybe they well continue to read books when they get older. Schools and business have been encouraging children to read by offering book club prizes such as Pizza Hut offering children free coupons to get a personal pan pizza if they read so many books in a six month time period. Finding books children is the next step. The Harry Potter Series and Lemony Snicket Series have been a big hit. The Lemony Snicket Series didn't take off until Hollywood made the first three books in the series into a movie. I am not saying that Hollywood is all the good or nor is it all that bad. But if they can produce movies that based on books that encourage children to read that is great in my opinion. There are some parents would not want their children to read the Harry Potter series for what ever religious reason they might have. But if a child wants to read a book they should be let to read that book even if it against your religious beliefs. Another thing a parent can do is take your child down to the library for free story time. Some libraries have a 45 minute story time period once a week where a librarian read to preschool children. These are some ways to encourage children to learn how to read. But really it's up to the child themselves if they want to read or not, even if a parent loves to read as a hobby and has been trying to encouraging reading in the home for a long time. Also one other thing I forgot to mention is learning disablilites many children have hidden learning disablilites and some how managed to get through the school system without any one noticing yet; and sometimes it's not until college or unversity that some professor notice why isn't Johnny and Janey learning. Where I live children are pushed though the school system because parents don't want children to be though of as failures. I have talked to a few high school teachers who say a lot of the kids that do come to their schools aren't ready for high school. So what can one do when parents are to blame for this situation. It takes a special teacher to confront a parent to say hey your kid has a learning problem, because there are a lot of parents in denial that their kids have problem when it comes to learning the three R's.
I think the nightly ritual of a bedtime story is probably where most lifelong readers get their start. I can't remember ever going to bed as a child without getting read to first. (It was something my parents even told babysitters to do.) That must be something that got started when I was so young I wasn't even aware of it. I wanted my favorites read to me over and over and over again. It must have driven my parents nuts - but they kept reading to me until I had the stories memorized and somehow started putting the tales I knew together with the letters at the bottom of the pages and began reading on my own. My father is also an avid reader and he made sure we took regular trips to the library and bookstore together. I was usually allowed to get a whole stack of books - whatever I wanted - from the library, but had to pick just one to take home from the bookstore. My mother had been an elementary school teacher and had all her mid-grade level chapter books on bookshelves around the house. As soon as I could understand them, I was welcome to read them. In short, I grew up surrounded by a wide selection of books and was given the freedom to explore any of them whenever I wanted. I feel immeasurably sorry for any child whose parents are too busy to give them that.
Read to them. Discuss the books with them. Make up projects to do that have to do with the story. Read the book & then let them watch a movie of it. Read in front of them. Take them to the library. Many libraries have story hours or puppet shows & other events to encourage reading. "Summer Reading" programs are currently going on at most libraries. Start your own story hour (or puppet shows) with your own child & their friends. They still make the book & cassette (or CD) sets where children can follow along in the book with the audio.
Take away the internet, the tv and the playstation and give them a book to read.