Do Not Just Say Read: Building a Reading Habit
Telling a child to read is often not enough. Discover simple but effective ways, from a teacher, to help your child build a lasting reading habit.
With technology and all it brings now at the centre of our lives, it falls to us as parents and teachers to guide our children, who do not yet know how to move in and out of this colourful world. So how do we do this? Telling them "Come on, read a book!" is often not enough. In this article, we look at simple but effective ways to help a child build a reading habit.
Ways to a Love of Reading
A few simple suggestions to introduce this hidden world that will open the doors of imagination and carry your child into whole new adventures:
Steps to Make Children Love Reading
Choose the genre they love
Adventure, biography or a true story: starting with a genre they love is the most effective.
Set up the right environment
A calm setting with the television off, free of distractions, raises the quality of reading.
Talk about the book
Let them tell you what they liked and why; talking with you matters to them.
Introduce the author
Introducing authors and their interviews, especially with biographies, increases the desire to read.
Most Important: Being a Role Model
To build a reading habit, one must not only guide but also set an example. Because children repeat our behaviour far more than our words. A child who sees you reading approaches this world of their own accord.
These suggestions may sound familiar. But how many of them have you truly tried so far? What falls to us is simply to set aside a little time.
In brief
- Starting with a genre they love and a calm environment makes reading enjoyable.
- Talking about the book strengthens the child's bond.
- The most effective way is for the parent to set an example by reading themselves.
For choosing books you can look at our age-based guide and our choosing the right book article, and explore the parent's role in raising a book lover.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is telling a child to read not enough?
Command sentences make reading feel like a burden. Instead, choosing a genre they love, reading together and talking about the book nurture a love of reading.
What should the best environment for reading be like?
A calm environment with the television off, conversation paused and free of distractions clearly raises the quality of reading.
Does being a role model really make a difference?
Yes. Children imitate behaviour; seeing you read is the strongest encouragement of all.
Gökkuşağı Koleji · One book, a thousand adventures.