A passion for stories is hardwired into every human being, and we have more media for getting these stories than we’ve ever had in the course of human history. In video games, we get to control a character through a story. In movies and television, we can view an entire lifetime play out in front of us in a few short hours. And in books, we can learn about the complex passions and motivations that wrestle beneath the surface of a stoic façade. Each tool has its unique appeal and limitations. When used together, we can instill a love for storytelling in all its forms and provide them a sense of how we as human beings have storytelling in our DNA.
How Do We Help Our Kids to Love Reading?
Believe every child will learn.
School and community leaders, classroom teachers, and other natural and fictional educators are continually inspiring others. Review your assumptions about your students, their popular reading techniques, and their potential for future success. Consciously let go of the ones that check students or kids put them in fixed categories. Your wholehearted belief that every student can become a great reader is one of the most powerful motivators in the world.
Make it fun.
Your students may be challenging at work with their reading practice—but don’t let them ignore that reading is fun, too! Sprinkle lessons with occasional gifts like reading joke books, seeing movies based on books, playing relay team games, sharing popular books and authors during show-and-tell, drawing, painting, or sculpting favorite characters or scenes. Don’t do fun activities as prizes or limit them for only your “best” readers—make sure all students, especially fighting readers, get a chance to experience how fun reading can be
Make time for reading.
Powerful companies like Google, Apple, and Yahoo have a “genius hour” where workers can work on any project they need; build your own “genius time” where kids can read any book or article they require. Have kids read individually or in pairs as their skill level allows? Ensure the environment is essential to the task by setting an expectation for quiet or turning on soft, instrumental music. If desirable, make alternative seating available so kids can get enough—consider bean bag chairs, DIY inner tube reading chairs, or other adjustable seating options.
Increase text description.
The more types of books and articles students are exposed to, and the more diverse those titles are, the more likely they will find a new favorite author or genre that keeps them excited even through the toughest decoding challenges. Put up a bookstore-style display, build a book review journal board, host a show-and-tell day where kids take their favorite books or mix up your read-aloud options. Be sure to download What Kids Are Reading for extensive lists of kid-approved books and articles by grade.
Dispel the “good reader” myth.
Some students—particularly those who struggle to read—may find two kinds of readers: those who read well and those who do not. These students do not understand that everyone requires to practice reading. They may also assume that, because they fight with reading now, they will always work. Clarify that no one is born with a reading brain, and everyone must practice reading to become a great reader.
Read aloud.
When you read aloud, your kids can give their hardworking brains a break. Instead of focusing all their power on decoding the words on the page, they can focus on the more pleasurable parts of reading: engaging characters, exciting plots, funny dialogues, interesting new facts, important discoveries, and dramatic moments. Kids can begin falling in love with reading even before they can read independently.
Show your love of reading.
Tell your child how much you enjoy storytime and reading together and explain why you like it so much. Please share your favorite childhood books or stories and talk about what they meant for you.
You can even understand your child a little about what you’re reading nowadays. Let your child see you reading as frequently as possible. It doesn’t have to be an ordinary book; it could be a cookbook or a newspaper, for example. Pre-schoolers like to follow, so this is a great way to encourage reading. It also shows that reading isn’t just something you do with kids.
Conclusion
We hope these suggestions assist you in getting all your kids on the path to reading success in school and life.
