Date : March 5, 2020
Good reading habits are the key to fostering a love of reading, but where do you start?
Reading is an essential skill that will help to ensure your child gets the best start they possibly can in life – but what do you do if your child finds reading a chore? How do you kickstart good reading habits now, while they’re still little, to encourage them to become life-long readers? We’ve got a few easy tips you can start to do right now, to help turn your little ones into book worms!
Tips to foster good reading habits
If your child is complaining about reading being too boring or too much of a chore, it can be difficult to encourage them to pick up a book on their own. They might even have difficulty reading. Start them off with these good reading habits, and watch your little readers blossom!
Be the change you want to see!
It’s true – at this young stage, kids are little sponges who want to be doing what you’re doing. If they see you reading for fun, it’s going to be something they’ll want to pick up themselves. Even if it’s just for half an hour a day, pick up a book while you’re waiting for dinner to be ready, or pop in an audiobook while you’re on the school run. Your kids will pick up on your love of reading and want to emulate you!
Make your local library your second home
Your local library is a fantastic resource that will help make reading fun in the eyes of your child. Libraries are designed with kids in mind – they’re bright, fun spaces with dedicated librarians who have a wealth of knowledge to help you and your child. Let your child discover the junior fiction area and choose their own books. Kids love making their own decisions, and this is a simple yet effective way of engaging them.
Create a reading space
Encourage your child to help you create a reading space. You’ll want it to be comfortable, inviting, and with enough light to make reading easy. It can be as small as a cozy corner in their bedroom, or a comfortable chair in the living room. Just make sure you and your child can read there together, so they can begin to connect reading with comfort and relaxation.
Create a home library
There’s no easier way to encourage good reading habits with your child than to have their own small library at home. If they have access to books, they’re more likely to pick one up. Let them choose which books they’ll like to read the most. Encourage them to choose a wide range of materials – print picture books, easy readers, audio books, non-fiction titles in a subject that interests them, and chapter books you can read together. Your child will be able to listen and understand concepts at a higher level than they will be able to read them at first, so it’s a good idea to expand their minds and their vocabulary.
For more information on children’s literacy, May Gibbs is a font of knowledge! Check out our wonderful articles on early literacy.
Contributed By Librarian Bec
Right now, Librarian Bec’s hard at work at your local library, sharing a passion for reading with little people and big. Bec writes about inspiring little readers and embracing lovely literature.
