Let’s start with access. Kids need access to reading material. What a blessing, that there are so many community libraries here in Canada! The best way we can show our appreciation for these libraries is to use them. As well librarians are trained in helping you find books that are the right fit for your child and they are happy to help. Personal books at home are also very helpful. Even if your child is a beginner reader and most of the books are at a higher level, they can still get a lot of benefit from having regular and easy access to these books. First of all reading pictures is an early literacy skill that helps build a strong foundation for more advanced literacy skills. Of even more value is when parents and other caregivers read to early readers. Children not only develop a love of books, stories, and reading (more foundational literacy skills) they also have many reading strategies modelled to them when they listen to books read to them. These reading strategies are then absorbed by children and they will automatically use them without even having to make a conscious effort to do so. Just as you use them automatically and may not even be aware of what they actually are. Reading to your child on a regular basis is the single best thing that you can do to help them develop strong literacy skills. Yes, it’s as easy as that! Even if your child isn’t a beginning or developing reader and many of the books at home are at an easier level they are still of value as they provide your child with a choice of reading material.
Children love to choose books to read and have read to them. Visiting the public library on a regular basis and letting your child choose books to take out is fabulous motivator for getting them to read. If your child is choosing books that are not at their reading level, you could always ask for a compromise, and say for every hard (or too easy) book they choose, you would like them to choose a good fit book as well. Of course early readers have less choice of good fit books but if the book is bit beyond their level then you can always share the reading. They read the words they know and you read the other words. Or you read most of the words and stop on words that you believe they know or are able to figure out. For example, you can stop on words that are easy to guess based on pictures or context. This is a reading strategy that successful readers use. You can also stop on words that are common sight words (the, of, look) or words that are easy to sound out. Library visits coupled with a personal collection of books at home provide children with lots of choice of reading material.
The most reliable way to help your child find the time to read is to develop the habit of reading at a particular time of day. As adults we rarely forget or struggle to make time to brush our teeth. That’s because it is built into our getting ready-for-the-day and getting-ready-for-bed routines. When my daughter was young we made a habit of reading before bed. Actually it was before getting ready for bed. This seemed to make getting ready for bed less of a fight for a child who felt there was too much fun to be had and sleep got in her way of getting all the fun she could out of her day. Different times will fit differently for various families. Mornings could be a nice way to help children who are slow to wake up start their day. You could climb into bed with them and start reading an old favourite. By the end of it they will probably be awake enough to then share the reading of the next and then read one short book on their own before getting up and getting on with their day. As working parent, I understand that it can be challenging to find the time to read with our children. However, if it’s a priority then we can do it.
Having a quiet reading space is important as well. Even though I have been reading for decades and have lots of practise at it, I get distracted by things like conversations, television, loud music, and mom requests. Children don’t think that they are distracted by television, video games, and music but brain research suggests differently. Music or television is just the sugar that makes the medicine go down. Ideally children should read in a quite space with as little distractions as possible. Although my daughter and I co-created an attractive reading corner in her bedroom, her favourite reading place was cuddled up next to me on the couch. She often prefers to read while walking around the living room by herself. She is a very active child and sitting still is what she does at school so she avoids it as much as possible at home. In small homes, finding a quite space may require a quiet time for the whole family, ear plugs, and/or a book lamp for reading in a closet. Have your child try a few options and choose what fits for them. Not only do kids like to choose their reading material, they also love to choose their reading location and position!
Good habits aren’t necessarily easy to develop but they are worthwhile and have pay-offs. With reading the pay-offs are immense. Reading provides access to information, entertainment, life-lessons, and life-changing wisdom!