Tips to Shape Lifelong Readers4 min read

The importance of getting your kids interested in books and reading cannot be understated!

Initiating your children into the world of books is one of the best things you could ever do for them as a parent.

Books are the gateways to knowledge, education, information, learning, and several other worlds.

Various studies have shown how those who read are seen to have better critical thinking skills, excel academically as well as utilize a vast and much more extensive vocabulary than those who don’t read.

Encourage your kids to read from a young age and you will see them reap the benefits in their lives.

Reading will help your kids to have a better hold on the language as well as grammar. They will also be able to express themselves effectively and develop opinions.

Try to get your kids invested in books much before they get introduced to other things like gadgets, video games and movies. Wouldn’t you rather have your child addicted to books rather than screens?

How can you raise lifelong readers?

In order to shape your kids to be lifelong readers, you will have to introduce literature into their lives. Here are a few tips to help you do that.

• Start them off early

Now you may ask, what is early? When is early? Well, early is now! Some mothers even read to their children in the womb! Not that you have to do that if you don’t want to, and neither do you have to feel guilty if you haven’t read to your child from the womb, but you get the idea. Starting your kids off really early is a great idea to build lifelong readers. You could start reading to them from birth or from a very young age. Various studies have shown that kids who have been read to for a long time are an average of six months ahead of their peers! How amazing is that?

• Surround them with books

You could have bookshelves around the house with a wide variety of books on different topics and genres. Make books available and easily accessible to your little ones. When your kids are surrounded by books, they will naturally be inclined to go and pick up one or two once in a while.

• Read to them

Don’t think you have to stop reading to your kids when they learn how to read on their own! You can continue to read to them. You can read aloud together every day. This will help to remind your kids that books really are great and they can take some time to enjoy reading by themselves too.

• Read in front of them

If you’ve noticed, kids love to imitate everything that adults do. Therefore, one fantastic way for you to encourage your kids to start reading is to read in front of them. Let them see you read. How would they realize that reading is an important practice if they never see you do it?

• Supplement lessons with stories

As your kids continue to interact with books, they will keep growing to love them. When your kids are learning various subjects like history, languages and even science, try incorporating picture books or fictional storybooks into your lessons.

• Visit the library

A library is a perfect place for anyone to explore books. Your kids get to walk around and choose their own books to read. Frequenting your local library on a weekly basis is a great practice to help your kids form a real and lasting bond with books.

• Allow them to choose the books

Kids love to have some control over various areas of their lives. If you allow them the freedom to choose their own books, they will definitely be more interested in reading. It may look like re-reading a bunch of books a million times, but what’s the harm if that means they’re going to end up falling in love with reading and books forever? You could always suggest different books for your kids to read, but don’t force them into reading those. Let them have their picks.

• Make sure they know you’re interested and invested

Your kids will really appreciate your interest in what they read. You can ask them questions about whatever they’re reading – their favorite part, favorite character, whether they liked the ending and if not, then how would they want it to end and so on.

A great idea is to introduce family book talks where everyone sits together and discusses what they’ve been reading about. Your children will be much more interested in reading when they know that others are interested and invested in it too.

Now that you have these tips up your sleeve, why not begin right away! It’s never too early or too late to encourage your kids to pick up a book and read. Keep in mind that your little effort will go a long way in shaping lifelong readers.