Restore a child’s love for reading by allowing them to pick out books on their favorite topics.
As children grow older, they sometimes lose the excitement for reading that they first had when they were just learning. According to this article in the Washington Post, a child’s self-image is essential when it comes to how often a child reads. A child’s family can have a powerful influence on this and here are some ways to help your child see themselves as a reader.
Make It Part Of Their Routine
The routines set in place by families will have a huge influence on how children see themselves, the things that they value, and the routines that they set in place as they become adults. A lot of families have routines that include sitting down together to enjoy a meal, watching a movie, and playing games. Another routine or tradition that is worth adding is a reading night or family book club. This would increase how much a child reads in addition to quality family time. Reading night for younger kids could be parents reading them their favorite stories.
For older kids, it could mean setting aside time daily to read for pleasure and then sharing their stories with the family once a week. You could also incorporate a family book club for older children. This would encourage them to go outside their reading comfort zone and read books picked by other family members. No matter how you create a reading night, the important thing is that you do. The more a child reads, the better reader they will become.
Reading before bed can create a lifelong routine and love of books.
Make It Easy
The typical household has televisions, computers, and smartphones, which all make it easy for a child to watch TV and play games at any given moment. For those moments your child finds themselves with some spare time, make it just as easy for them to pick up a book. Make it part of the weekly schedule to visit the library and pick up books on your child’s favorite subject. Strategically place some books in their bookbag, the living room, and their bedrooms. This way, the next time your child is looking for something to do whether it’s at lunch, after dinner, or right before bed, they’ll have the opportunity to grab a book. Making it easy for your child to read will boost the amount of reading they do. Over time, this will help develop their self-image as a reader.
Encourage Them To Make A Book
Inspiring your child to make a book encourages both reading and creativity. Maybe they want to make a book about some of their life experiences or a family story that they’ve heard over and over again or a book about their favorite things. The possibilities are endless. They could make a pet book, how-to book, school days book, and more. Bookemon makes this process easy by providing free templates and themes that include birthdays, yearbooks, pets, poetry, fiction, and so much more. They can also make a custom theme by easily uploading their drawings or photos to create a theme that is as unique as the story they’re telling.
Helping your child see themselves as a reader is a lifelong process that has to grow and change just like they do. Giving them easy access to books they enjoy and making reading a family tradition will help them to visualize themselves as a reader. Bookemon can help by providing the resources that allow them to make books of their own about stories they have wanted to tell or read about. Get started or try it out today.