Giving your child the gift of the love of reading is one of the most wonderful things you can do as a parent. However, some children seem to develop a love of reading almost overnight while others may take more than a little persuasion. If you find your child becoming restless or distracted while listening to a story of if you find that an older child just doesn’t want to read more than a page or two then here are some tips that worked for some of our mums:
Try to read everyday: Children enjoy the pleasant familiarity of routine, by reading for 10 or 20 minutes every day your child will begin to look forward to this time spent reading together.
Create a special place to read together. One of our mums told us that her and her daughter have a special chair that they always sit on and now she doesn’t even have to remind her that it’s reading time, she is always waiting, perched on the chair!
Get your child to help you pick what book he would like to read: As adults, we often pick up a book and just can’t get interested in it no matter how many chances we give it. It’s the same for children, by letting them help you pick the book out they will automatically have more of an interest in the book.
Show the pictures and take a break to discuss them: Show your child the pictures in the book and ask her a question about what she thinks is happening in the picture. Children are very visual so pictures definitely help make reading more fun!
Change your voice to go for different characters or to suit the emotion in the story. This will make for a more exciting reading experience for your child.
After you finish reading, discuss what happened in the story. Ask your child what he thought of the story and ask questions such as, ‘Did you like the story?’ ‘What didn’t you like?’ or ‘What do you wish happened in the story?’
