How to instill the reading culture in your child

Children who love to read were not born with the reading gene, they were taught to love books and luckily it stuck. You may have tried to get your kids to like books even a little but you don’t seem to hack it. Reading enhances imagination in kids making them more creative and critical thinkers. Here are a few fun tips to make your child a reader if they are not already.

Age appropriate books

There is a reason books are classified according to the age. It is important that you introduce books that are manageable for the kids as well as fun to learn from. By doing this you will receive little to no resistance when it comes to getting them to read by themselves.

Read to them

In the very initial stages of introducing reading to your children, read to them first until they can be able to read a story for themselves and get meaning from it. While reading to them, intonate your voice or use different tones for different characters to make it lively.

Make it a routine

When you make reading fun, your children will even be looking forward to the reading by themselves without having to be huddled to a reading nook. With a routine, reading becomes part of their daily life and they can easily take it up as part of their routine as they grow without a fight.

Allow participation

Ask questions or ask them to spell new words they learn. This helps with them being active and alert while you read the book to them. Their vocabulary grows through this and they can identify the words when they advance to another stage and they can make connections to something in real life.

Give them a choice

They should have a say in the books you get for them from time to time so that they can look forward to reading it as it also makes them feel important. As time goes, this cultivates their taste in books and guide you on what to introduce them to in case you would like to pick a different genre.

Introduce images

Very early on pictures often carry half the meaning of the story. It is best that they see the pictures as you read. This aids their imagination and words to things. Every once in a while, you can read comic books or illustration books to switch things up.

Be a role model

Children will imitate what you do other than just taking instructions. If they see you read often, they could also get in the habit easily without being asked.

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