Having good reading ability helps children in all their subjects, according to teaching professionals. And it makes sense – if your literacy is poor, how will you learn other subjects?
If your child is showing little interest in reading, there is – here are three ‘tricks’ you can use to spark their enthusiasm and love of reading without them even knowing it:
Read the book before you watch the film
Most children live going to the cinema or watching a new DVD amd so reading the book before watching the film can be a great way to encourage thwir reading without too much fuss. Your child is looking forward to seeing the next big thing, the next Harry Potter movie or the next Wreck it Ralph movie, they’ll have to read the book first.
Holiday reading challenges and competitions
Most libraries have a reading list for children to complete during the holidays – usually the summer. Some give prizes and activity packs that young children will love and seeing lots of other children getting into it will give them a boost, too, and see that reading isn’t as boring as they thought.
If your local library doesn’t have a summer reading programme, then create one at home, with rewards for reading books. You can use a Monopoly (or Life) board and allow your child to move one space for each book he reads. Or if you want to have more fun, let him roll the dice each time he reads a book and have prizes available for passing certain points.
Make sure the rewards are something very desirable. If your child values time with you more than toys, then set a date together doing his favorite thing. If he values a certain toy, let him earn it. Or let him earn a chance to get out of his regular chores. Take him to his favorite restaurant. Just have fun with it and he will, too.
Bedtime reading – even for older children
Our eldest is eight years old and I nearly fell off my chair when his teacher said that we should continue reading a bedtime story to him all through primary school – the other parents were also in shock, too. So, don’t think you’ve got off this one if your children are older!
Choose a book about something they’re interested in and children start to want to read more. Whether it’s Horrible Histories or fairytales, when children want to hear what’s being read, it can change their attitude to reading completely.
