Below are a few tips to help you get started:
Be a Good Role Model
Ask yourself this question: when do my children see me reading for pleasure? When my friend's daughter was six or seven years old, she worried that Bailee was not very interested in books or reading. I laughed because this friend and I had been roommates in college and what I remembered was that the television was on 24/7 in our apartment, but rarely did she pick up a book for pleasure! My friend realized that although she did often read books or magazines, it was after Bailee was in bed when she couldn't see her. Children imitate the behaviors of those around them: that's how they learn to talk after all! Having a quiet time when all the family members have a book to look at is a good way of demonstrating that you value reading yourself. Start Reading To Them Early - And Don't Stop!
You can start reading to and looking at books with children as early as you like and well before they can talk. Sitting and looking at a simple, colorful picture book, reading and talking about the pictures, and having your child turn the pages, all help your child develop important reading readiness skills. Teachers look for these abilities when assessing pre-school children: does the child know how to hold a book? Turn the pages? Know which way is up? Children who have been read to from an early age already have these skills. Warning! Don't stop when the child has learned to read on his own. Studies show that interest in reading and books starts to drop off at age eight, especially for boys. Read on for strategies to prevent your budding reader from losing interest.Find a Variety of Reading Materials and Opportunities
Interest in reading begins to lessen for many children, especially boys, as they reach the 4th grade. Parental intervention is key at this point. Continue to read to your child, but read longer novels, a chapter every evening. Read non-fiction books about sports, heroes, natural disasters, spiders, whatever! Read graphic novels or comic books. Find every opportunity to engage in reading: cooking from a recipe, building a model from instructions, reading emails from Grandpa, reading the grocery list while shopping, etc. Give books, magazine subscriptions and gift certificates to bookstores for birthdays and other occasions. Magazines such as National Geographic and Sports Illustrated have editions targeted to younger readers. Book ownership is an important part of making children think of themselves as readers.Use The Public Library
Find your local library's website. Look for lists of award-winning children's books or current bestsellers. If you are pressed for time, use your library card to put books of interest on hold. The library will notify you when the books have been pulled from the shelf and you can just pick them up. The public library is one of the best possible resources for helping your child become a life-long reader. There are programs for parents-and-tots, preschoolers and school-age children. Often there are homework help clubs and after-school programs as well as camps during school vacations. At a recent visit to my local branch, I ran into a jovial pirate who was supervising a scavenger hunt. Running in the library! It's allowed! Well... sometimes.Embrace Technology But Monitor Your Child
There is no conflict between literacy and technology, despite the occasional media hype. On the contrary, computers and the Internet provide incredible resources to help children become avid, life-long readers (and writers). There are, of course, those software programs which promise to teach your child to read. These may or may not be useful, depending on the learning style of your child. More useful are ebooks, often available through your local library. These are books that can be accessed through the Internet. Like books on tape or CD, your child can hear the story while reading the text and viewing the pictures. Websites that link up “epals” can give your child the opportunity to have a pen pal; social networking sites provide a space for older children to experiment in multimedia. The downside is the presence of predators. Make sure your child's computer is in a space where you can easily monitor her activities, and avoid putting the computer in private spaces, such as bedrooms.
Helping develop a life-long reading habit is one of the most important contributions you can make to a child's life. Begin by being a good “reading role model” and use the above tips to help your child become an engaged and avid reader.
