How to encourage children to read more?

“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” 

― JK Rowling

We all understand that reading is critical for academic success. But, it offers so much more to children than just that. It stimulates imagination and curiosity. It makes them understand the difference between the real world and the world of make-believe. It also develops their early literacy skills. However, like some adults, some children also dislike reading. It then becomes a priority for parents to encourage their child to read. 

In this article, we will cover how parents can encourage their children to read.

How to encourage children to read more?

A document published by the Department of Education and Training of the Queensland Government, Helping young children learn to read: what parents can do, suggests a few things that parents can do to encourage their child to read. 

Before reading

Before reading, parents can help the child select an interesting book by browsing through different fiction and non-fiction books. Parents can help them figure out what the book is about based on the cover page and the title. Parents need to introduce different books to their child. Keep in mind that every child is unique and will enjoy different types of books. Books that are too hard or too easy to read are difficult to enjoy.

Here are some sample questions: 

• This book has a colourful cover page. What do you think this book will be about? 
• This book has such an interesting title.  Have you read a similar book before?
• Which one of these books would you like to read today? 
• Have we read any other books by this author before? 
• Let’s go through the pictures and illustrations in this book. Do you think you will have fun reading this book? 

During reading

When the child is reading the book, support your child to read the book independently. Ask questions to help the child think about what they are reading. Always remember that reading fluency and reading comprehension are two different things. Parents need to teach children how to think about what they are reading. 

Here are some sample questions:

• Why do you think the character did this?
• What do you think will happen next? 
• How do you think the character is feeling?

After reading

After reading a book, in both cases when you are reading to your child and when your child is reading to you, an open discussion about the book needs to happen for better understanding. 

Here are some sample questions:

• Which character did you like from the book? Why?
• What was your favourite part of the book?
• Does this book remind you of any other book you have read?
• Did you like this book? 

Parents need to make reading interesting for their children. They can start with helping their children find books that are aligned with their interests such as dinosaurs, magic, etc. Parents can also set up a home library of age appropriate books and schedule a special reading time with the child. They can also attend different storytelling events with children to introduce them to different stories. 

Did you find this post helpful? Do you think these strategies will work for your child? Let us know your thoughts and comments below. 

References

Helping young children learn to read: What parents can do. (n.d.). Department of Education and Training, Queensland Government. https://readingwritingcentre.education.qld.gov.au/rwc-resources/Documents/rc-parent-booklet.pdf

Also read, 

• How can parents help children follow rules? 
• Ways in which you can teach values to children
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