Reading as a "have to" will not be fun for your child at all. Reading as a "want to" can cause your child to want to read more and more. You must find ways to turn reading into a "want to" past time.
Promote the joy of reading in the classroom.
Even if you're not a teacher, you can make your child's assigned books more interesting by getting involved with the reading yourself. Help your child use their imagination and perhaps even act out scenes of the book in a mini-play at home. Use puppets or dolls to bring the pages to life or encourage reading two chapters per day in exchange for a reward - such as a trip to the ice cream shop or
candy store, or maybe a fun day at the park. There are many ways to motivate without being too pushy. Once your child gets started reading the book, he/she might even find it hard to put down!
Don't Forget Library Trips
Another terrific way to make reading fun is to take weekly trips to the library. Allow your child to select books from their favorite sections. Also, consider signing up your child for library reading clubs. These are typically for children of younger ages (11 and below) and best of all - they're free. Some libraries offer special reading times with puppets and other fun activities. There are also reading contests held by some library clubs to encourage reading for a prize or award at the conclusion. With such contests, students must record how many pages or chapters they've read and turn in their information at the end of the race to be combined with the recordings of other team members. The team with the most reading wins!
Library trips give your child something to look forward to each week, and they'll be amazed at the vast selection of books the library has to offer. There are plenty of pages filled with mystery, fantasy, animals, history, funny stuff, and more.
Encourage to Read after Favorite Authors
Once you establish a regular library routine, encourage your child to look for books by their favorite authors. This will help your child become familiar with looking up books using a library file or computer, and also will encourage continued reading. If your child loves a certain mystery book, let them know that authors usually write other books that are similar in story telling. Some mystery books, for example, are available in a series to keep a young reader's interest for months or years to come. If your child really enjoys a certain author, you might want to buy a collection of their books as a children's gift for a birthday or Christmas present.
Also, look for upcoming kid book authors such as Arlene Wyatt, author of the kid series, Sammy the Squirrel . Grab the first two volumes when the book is first released, and then encourage your child to look for the new volumes as they're released. This is a great way to keep your child in suspense for reading!
You can encourage reading during school breaks, long road trips, doctor or dentist visits while sitting in a waiting room, plane or bus rides, and even during bathroom breaks. Any time there's a spare moment, your child can delve into a world of comedy, fantasy or mystery while enhancing his/her reading abilities. And don't forget...there are hundreds of children's products on the market designed to help your child with reading. These can spark reading interest in remarkable ways and help improve grammar and reading skills dramatically.
Encourage Children Book Reading as a Teacher
If you're a teacher, encourage reading for each child by allowing them to choose their own books to go along with a teacher lesson plan or a teacher activity. Create your lesson plan or activity neutrally to work with any type of book so no child will feel pressured to read something they dislike. This will give each child a sense of freedom and accomplishment by completing a book they really enjoy.
When buying a kid activity book or any type of kids' book, check out online bookstores first to find great bargains. Use these ideas to get your child motivated to read!
