Parent Power! Nourishing a Love of Reading
"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents." - Emilie Buchwald
Parents, you are superheroes. You have powers beyond your dreams, including instilling in your children a love of reading that will soar them to new worlds of knowledge and imagination and stay with them for a lifetime.
We all want our children to be strong readers. We can equip them with the skills and strategies and boundless amounts of books, but with equal importance, we can also equip them with interest, fascination, and the joy of reading as a hobby that will inspire them to be lifelong readers by choice.
And it's easy. And fun. And free. And priceless.
Five Simple Ways to Encourage a Love of Reading in Your Child:
1. Let your child see you read.
Many years ago, as a first grade teacher, I went to a workshop about teaching reading. To begin the session, the presenter asked, "Do the kids see you read?" She was asking about our own children at home as well as those in the classroom. She followed that question with another: "If you tell them it's important to read, but you don't actually carry through by modeling that it is important in your adult life, what message are you sending?"
These questions stuck with me. At the time, my older daughter was still small, maybe three or four. I realized that I always read my own books and magazines after she went to bed, which I thought made sense because I didn't have a lot of time to read for pleasure while she was up. Then I realized - while I am a voracious reader, she wasn't seeing it. So I kept a novel handy
and would pick up the newspaper or my news magazine when I had a few minutes. It was a subtle change, but I think a massive one. My children have grown up seeing me as a reader and now they tote books around with them not because I tell them to, but because it just seems like the most natural thing in the world, because they've grown up this way.
2. Let your child choose his own books.
Book choice is a strong motivator. This is not to say that reading "just right" books and reading quality literature is not important. They are. But to build a love of reading, your child also has to actually love what he is reading.
I'm going to make a confession here. My younger daughter was a reluctant reader for a long time. This was a bit alarming to me as I love to read and my older daughter devours books even faster than I do. We have bookshelves upon bookshelves of titles. The problem was, they were titles that my older daughter had loved - books about fairies and lost pets and enchanted kingdoms and cunning, problem-solving children. They were wonderful, imaginative, rich stories. And though my little one was plenty capable of reading them, she just wasn't interested.
Enter Diary of a Wimpy Kid. My older daughter had never read that series. She wasn't really into books with comic pictures, or silly, humorous stories, or books without many girls in them, or anything remotely "gross". My little one brought this home from school one day and just sat down and read. And read. And read. The entire seven-book series, like it was going out of style. And it hit me. We had hundreds of books to choose from, but they just weren't the books that engaged her. Cue a visit to the library for more titles she would enjoy, and she has been reading ever since. I give a lot of credit to Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney for turning my daughter into a reader.
3. Read aloud to your child.
"You're never too old, too wacky, too wild
to pick up a book and read to a child."
- Dr. Seuss
It seems very natural to read to a child before they are old enough to read to themselves. But this is not a habit to stop once your child is an independent reader. Children benefit from hearing a fluent, adult reader's tone, pace, and expression, and they love to hear books that interest them but may be above their own reading level. Reading aloud introduces children to new characters and settings and can introduce children to empathy and other perspectives. It is an adventure that you can share together. RIF (Reading is Fundamental) has many articles on reading aloud, including this one about the benefits of reading aloud to your child in any language.
4. Make reading together a regular, warm, and wonderful event.
Creating loving associations with books and reading can leave a lasting impression on your child. Holding your child on your lap while you read together or snuggling with a book together at bedtime is something that your children will long for while they are little and will remember when they are older. Sharing the joy, sadness, and wonder in books can be an important bonding experience.
I always loved (and still do) the closeness of reading with my children, and now that my older daughter is in middle school, she likes to read side by side with me. Although we are generally reading our own books, she will stop to ask me questions or share funny parts. There is still a closeness in our reading. Which leads me to...
5. Talk to your child about his reading.
Talking with your child about his reading provides benefits to both of you. For your child, the chance to verbalize thoughts, predictions, or confusion is an important step toward internalizing those important pieces to comprehension. Talking with you allows your child to make connections between stories and their lives, the world, and other stories. It helps them to understand characters and why they think, feel, or behave as they do. It allows them to hypothesize what they would do in the character's situation, which encourages your child to think more deeply.
As a parent, this interaction with books allows you to see your child as a reader, including areas of strength and areas that may need extra practice or support. It allows you a glimpse into your child's perspective on situations, and can encourage natural conversations about the values you wish to instill in your child.
Keep the conversation natural, not quizzing. To keep your child engaged, flip the switch - have him be in control and ask you questions about the story. Either way, valuable conversations will be started.
I always loved talking to my girls about their reading, and now I am reaping an unforeseen benefit with my older daughter. As a teenager who reads a great deal, she sometimes encounters issues in her reading that are emotional or confusing. Because we have always talked about her reading, this channel of communication is wide open, and we have had some wonderful and important conversations about her thoughts and feelings on different issues and situations, and I have been able to help clarify some of her misconceptions. Books can be excellent conversation starters.
Parents, your super powers are many, and nurturing a love of reading is one!
