My father read books, newspapers, and magazines every day. He even read while he watched TV–and multi-tasking hadn’t been invented yet. I adored my Father and wanted to be like him. So I taught myself how to read before I ever marched off to kindergarten. (I’m not, however, recommending that children learn to read before they go to school.)
My parents talked about astrology mentorship reading and sometimes connected reading to making plans. For example, my Mother might say, “I read in the paper this morning that the school board voted for a longer winter vacation. So what should we do with those extra days? Maybe you could go ice skating one day.” Or they asked questions: “What’d you like best about that dog book you just finished?”
In short, we lived in a reading environment. Everyone, including grandparents who didn’t graduate from high school, read at least one newspaper and a magazine or two. People had bookcases with books in them instead of shelves filled with photos and trinkets. Everyone used the word “read” in daily conversation.
Then TV took over. Computers evolved from a reading media to a visual media. All things digital and electronic captured our imaginations. Newspaper and magazine subscriptions declined. Video rules.
Yet even though many of us don’t read much, we still believe reading is an essential skill that children must master. We need to model reading to our children. Since children learn from what we do, reading ourselves shows them we think it’s important.
Try these seven simple solutions with your children to promote reading:
– Read yourself. Buy a magazine at the grocery store. Get a book about a favorite hobby. Talk about reading. If you love to save photos, you could say : “Oh, I just read the coolest article in my magazine about collecting family pictures.” Leave magazines and books out so your kids see them.
– Insist on reading directions and recipes. “Before we start baking cookies, we need to read the recipe.”
– Read stories to your kids. Not just to preschoolers but to 4th and 5th graders too. Read something to them every night before bed. Research has shown that reading aloud to children helps them read. A study by the U.S. Dept. of Education shows that children who are read to are almost twice as likely to score in the top 25 percent in standardized reading tests.
– Get books for your kids that are tied to their interests. My grandson, a 4th grader at the time, hated to read. He loves football. We found a football book at his grade level. He read it. And he enjoyed it. For sports, look for books by Matt Christopher. 3 rd and 4th grade girls love the Juni B. Jones series by Barbara Parks. By 5th grade, girls and boys enjoy the Lemony Snicket series by Brett Helquist. Encourage children to tell you about what they’ve read. Take an interest in their books.
– Take the kids to the library or the bookstore for fun. Buy a book for yourself. Or check one out at the library. Let your children see that you like books.
– Assume your children can read and ask them to do it. Let them know that reading is an everyday activity. Ask them to read the directions for putting up the new shelf in the garage. Ask them to read aloud what’s listed in the TV schedule for 7:00 pm so you can pick a favorite show.
– Better yet, turn off the TV. And while you’re at it, put the video games out of reach.
Just read! It’s more incentive for your kids to see you reading than nagging them to read. Certainly many of the brain-based learning programs often used in schools such as Brain Gym do help kids master reading. But that’s not enough. Start today to create a reading environment at your house.
