One of the most important things we can do as parents and teachers is to
instill a love of reading in our youngsters as early as possible. A love
of reading not only encourages a child's desire to learn to read, but keeps him
reading as he goes through life. Once a child is hooked on books, your job
as instructor becomes easier. After all, a willing patient is easier to
treat!
Follow the rules below to encourage a love of reading in your children.
Rule #1: Always read to your child every day.
We all know there will be days that this is not possible. But
it is possible to make up the time lost in several reading sessions
the next day or on the weekend. There is no time limit on reading
sessions. Read as much or as little as seems reasonable at the time.
Most young kids will sit through many picture books at a sitting. Older
kids will often beg you to keep reading chapter after chapter. Ten or
fifteen minutes a day will do but 30 minutes or an hour is a lot better!
Rule #2: Pick out the right books.
What you read to a child depends on the child herself. Some kids will
prefer fairy tales. Some will want to learn something new each
night in a science book. Some will love to hear poetry. Some will
only listen to something if it makes them laugh. Having many types of
books available will make your job easier. Most children will enjoy most
types of books at one time or another. Your job is to gauge what type of
book will keep them interested today.
Choosing books you both like is usually a fun process but can prove
challenging. Start by thinking about your child. What interests
them? My son was easy. Anything about magic, enchantments, knights
and castles, adventures and sword play, and of course anything funny or just
plain fun would excite him. As this was also the sort of thing I
enjoyed myself it was easy!
My daughter has been more challenging. Of course anything with a
princess in it will do just fine, but after that it gets a bit dicey.
She absolutely loves anything funny, but it has to be really
funny, not just mildly amusing. Since I don't like to read the books
first, sometimes I miss the boat and she's less than thrilled with the book.
I try very hard not to make the same mistake twice and usually go back to a
princess book or an old standby like Roald Dahl. You can always trust
him to be funny (but do be careful which of his books you choose - some may be
scary for the younger set). Once you get going you can always find the
right thing for the right kid. It sometimes takes a bit of trial and
error but half the fun is getting there.
Rule #3: Don't read the same books over and over. At least
- not all the time.
All kids will have favorite books. And many kids will want to hear
the same book at bedtime every night. This is okay as long as the
following two conditions are met.
- You don't go crazy or start hating the book. When you are an
animated reader, children listen. They will love what you read despite
themselves. However, if you can't stand the book, your tone will show
it and your listeners will fade away. You cannot keep a child's
attention when reading like a robot.
- You read other books as well. If little Suzie wants to hear
Goodnight Moon every night, fine. Just read it to her after
you have read several other books that you both enjoy.
Rule #4: Try to read books you both like.
This rule has really already been stated in both rules #2 and #3 but it is
repeated here for emphasis. It is important that you read to your child
in an animated and entertaining way. This shows the youngster that you
are enjoying the book as well. It is pointless to read to your child in
a drone-like fashion, conveying the message that reading is boring. That
is extraordinarily counterproductive to the whole exercise! Remember
that you are trying to teach your child a love of reading. You can't do
that unless you yourself are enjoying the process. That said, sometimes
your tastes will differ and you will have to do your best. When my
children asked me to read the same book over and over and I just couldn't face
it, I would tell them honestly that I really was quite sick of that book and
would suggest others. If that didn't work, I'd read it anyway doing my
best not to sound bored. I'd then follow it up with a book I enjoyed
reading.
Rule #5: Read a bit beyond their own reading level.
This level is easily determined by a practiced reader. Simply
progress a bit at a time as your child progresses. The idea is to read
books at your child's comprehension level in lieu of her reading level.
See the chart below for ideas.
You do this to open up the world of books to them. Most of the time,
your child's comprehension level will be a bit beyond what they themselves can
read. Reading at their own level just makes the set of available books
that much smaller. Reading at a level or two above their own reading
level shows them what lies ahead. This also helps you to follow
rule #4.
Rule #6: Always answer questions.
Kids may ask about words they hear, about what is happening, about what
something means or about any number of other things related to the reading.
Always answer these questions. At times, they may get excessive or off
topic and you may have to put an end to the conversation to get on with the
story. But these discussions are tremendously important. Every
time you explain something your child doesn't understand, and discuss it until
they do understand it, you have helped him improve his comprehension.
Next time he comes upon that word or a similar situation he will grasp it
without confusion.
Rule #7: Answer the questions they don't ask.
Whenever you are reading to children, especially if you are following rule
#5 and reading over their own reading level, there will be words or idioms or
situations that need explaining. Often however, the child will not ask
about them for some reason or another. Either they don't want to appear
stupid, or they think everyone else knows all about that or that maybe they
didn't hear you right and they substitute their own meaning. This can be
detrimental to their comprehension skills. If they substitute their own
interpretation for the actual meaning, they may do it again with another book
and miss the intent of the words themselves. Or they may assume a word
means something that it doesn't. If you think there is a word, idiom or
situation that your child doesn't understand, ask him to explain it to you.
If he can't or won't, discuss it until you can be sure he understands.
Often humor needs explaining. Why is a certain thing funny? As
an adult, you may understand a reference to something and understand the humor
in a statement, but your child doesn't have your frame of reference and may
miss the point as he misses the humor. If you don't notice a smile at a
funny juncture, ask if he understands why the item is funny. Other items
that may need explaining are sayings like "too many cooks spoil the broth" or
references to historical items or books your child hasn't read or characters
he hasn't come across. The more you read to your child, the easier it
will become to judge what you need to explain and what he gets without help.
Rule #8: Your child is never too old to be read to.
I know this because my kids read books to me on long car rides - and
I enjoy it immensely! If I'm not too old, surely your 10 year old isn't
either. Granted, the books need to be longer, more complex and
interesting. But this is not hard to accomplish. As an added
benefit - it can be fun for you too! See the chart
below for some great ideas.
Rule #9: Your child is never too young to be read to.
I started to read to my first born when he was two weeks old. This
was mainly because my mother told me that I was to talk to him all the time as
this is how children learn to talk. I didn't know what to say at the
time, not having mastered the "mother chattering" yet. As it
turned out, before long he actually seemed to be paying attention! Even
when he crawled, he would sit for as long as I wanted to read.
Now, I am well aware that not every child has this kind of attention span.
My second child certainly didn't. But she did get read to right from the
beginning as I was reading to her brother with her in my arms. At a very
young age, it doesn't matter what you read to them, so long as you read.
As she got older, and needed books at her own level, I would read in short
bursts as she would allow. I found that as often as not, she would play
on the floor as I read book after book to her older sibling. This had
the same effect, and before long, she wanted to get up on the sofa and listen
too. Sometimes, it takes some encouragement, but all children can learn
to love reading.
Rule #10: Remember that reading to your children is not a
chore.
If you follow rule #1 through #9 you don't need #10. But for those of
you out there who refuse to see the light, click here to
go back to the beginning of this list, paying particular attention to rules #2,
#3 and #4. Above all else - you are trying to make reading fun, to
instill a lifetime love of reading in your child. You can't
do that if you make the daily or nightly reading ritual akin to doing the
dishes. Enjoy yourself, make sure they enjoy themselves, and you will find
you look forward to this time as much or even more than you enjoy anything else.
Have ideas for reading rules of your own? E-mail us at
info@thephonicsformula.com and
we would be glad to include them in a list.
