I L-O-V-E to read!
{I love books in general & I'm a total sucker for buying kids books...}
My kids love to read even more so. As a parent I love that they love to read - I've known of parents who struggle to get their kids interested in reading {the thought makes me sad}.
We live in a technology and device driven era - smart phones, ipads, ipods, computers, kindles, life like video games, and TVs that offer a plethora of channels and movies. You can even read books on some of these devices, but an electronic version can never compare to a hard copy book.
{There's just something about the physical turning of a page...the feel of the paper...the smell...}
It is very important to us {my hubby & I} to not allow our children to get sucked into "devices". We want our kids to continue to learn, imagine, and grow through their love of reading and learning.
Here are some of the ways we encourage our kids to continue their love for books...
Limit screen time {and all technology!}. We have our limits of what we allow & don't allow, but everyone is different.
Never say no to reading. This doesn't mean that we let the kids stay up all night reading - many times we have had to take the books away in the wee hours of the evening.
Read together. The kids love to have classic books read aloud to them. {What we're reading together right now...}
Go to the library often! We go to the library at least twice a week {we typically have 30-40 books checked out at any given time}. The kids love choosing books to read, but I always get a number of books that they wouldn't normally choose on their own {and wouldn't you know they usually love the ones I get too!}.
Participate in reading programs {for extra fun/encouragement}. This summer the kids participated in the Barnes & Noble summer reading program and received a free book for completing it. Next month we start Book-It {yes, homeschoolers get to participate too}, and the kids will earn a free personal pizza for fulfilling monthly reading goals.
Do you have additional great ideas to encourage kids to read? Do you have any must-read books that you suggest?
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We struggle to get our son to read, he would rather be outside riding his bike. I think we need to find him just the right book to keep him interested.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to read my post!
DeleteMy friend had the same situation with her daughter - she couldn't get her to read for anything. She started with books on CD to peak interest in different types of books/stories, and then found a "niche" that she was interested in to read together, before long her daughter was reading them on her own and has gotten more of an interest in reading.