Who would choose hard work as a leisure activity? No one and that’s true for children too.
If reading is a struggle for them, they would certainly not like to pick up a book for their leisure. If your child struggles to read, take a look at why this might be. Are they under increasing pressure to do so, which can overshadow the joy of this wonderful activity? We all know that it is hard to draw a child’s attention and to keep it fixated on one task is just not easy. However, the good part is that there can be a lot of ways to ensure the child gets interested and wants to read.
Reading is interesting.
Most children will not find reading interesting. It may happen because they never find reading material that motivates them. You need to find out what your child loves to do, does your child have a hobby or special interest? Does your child love any animal or a character? By finding reading material that piques their interest and draws them into reading, you are giving your children a motivational boost. If we treat books like they’re magical, children will grow up believing that too. Also, Make sure the reading material isn’t beyond your child’s reading abilities. The interest may be there, but if the book is hard to read, your child’s motivation will diminish.
Creating a cozy reading corner
Children love to explore special places created for them. A special reading space may be all the encouragement which your child needs, which also makes reading time even more appealing. Considering a theme such as a beach, forest, a spaceship will motivate the child to hang out and spend time with a good book!
Read and Reread
Another way to inspire children to remain interested is by reading the books to them. Having a habit of reading books to them, showing them pictures while reading, choosing and repeating the words and sentences will provide practice yet doesn’t feel like work for the child.
Library visits
Always take the child along when you visit a library or a bookstore. Give them access to choose their book. Let them decide what they want to read. Getting the child involved in decision-making will make them more excited about participating in reading. To start let them explore all kinds of pictures and chapter books.
Games on decoding words
Before the child starts reading you should help them to decode words. How letters combine to form words and showing them simple words that are often used for them to recognize as soon as they see them in books. Games like word search, sound puzzles, scavenger hunts, Pictionary will help the child to identify and decode new words.
Being a Role model
Children take many signs of adults. If they grow up surrounded by books they will like to discuss and talk about books. When they see your love for reading, they will likely develop the same. You have to make sure that they see you reading, you should also talk to them about the book. You can relate stories during a conversation, you portray that books bring you joy and will bring them joy too.
Buddy reading
Buddy Reading can be a great way to help your child gain fluency and confidence during reading. During buddy reading child can take turns reading by sentence or paragraph. You can be a partner with your child and participate equally during reading and they no longer feel that they have to do it all alone. Paired reading or buddy reading has multiple benefits, but perhaps the biggest benefit is that it prevents discouragement.
Book club
Reading is a social activity and book clubs are a great way to share experiences with friends and family. When your child and his friend share and read the same book, it gives them a chance to discuss the best part of the book or their favorite characters. Meeting friends to discuss the book and finishing the book reading within a certain deadline encourages them to read more books.
Variety of reading material
Always provide a variety of reading materials to kids. There are many genres to consider: joke books, cookbooks, how-to books, and biographies apart from fictional stories. Children’s magazines can also be a great option for children to explore which encourages them to read.
Printed books over e-books
E-books are designed for speed with skimming, scrolling, and linking whereas printed books are the true epitome of patience. Reading printed books improves a child’s concentration. They are more interactive than an E-reader. The printed books invite a physical person-to-object relation, lending more realism to the characters and stories. Providing children with printed paper books enables emotional connectivity whereas eBooks may not allow them to connect with the characters.
Give a gift that keeps them reading.
It is rightly said by Garrison Keiler “a book is a gift you can open again and again.” A book is a perfect gift for a child. It will expand their horizons, broaden their minds and hone their power of imagination. They will become capable of imaginative thoughts and it is a highly affordable way to shower your loved ones with affection.
Read the book, then watch a movie
When your child reads a book, it paints a picture in his mind. He visualizes what the author has created and every child sees something different. The child on reading a book opens up to a whole new world of fantasy, creativity, and imagination, it’s always a good idea to host a movie night and watch if there is a movie version of the book. It will always be motivating for a child who already read the book to watch it visually.
Lastly keeping a reading log of completed books can be a great motivator for young kids.
Once a child starts reading a book, they would read more and more voraciously. If a child begins to read; they would never want to give up reading. Their hearts would be filled with immense pleasure and happiness, and their imagination would become fertile.
Interest in reading is not natural for a child, they arrive only with small gradual steps.
Have loads of fun reading with your child!
