Did you know that most kids are losing the love for reading in this day and age. One of them happens to be my son. He is 11yrs old and homeschooled. After traveling the world for 5yrs he got use to the unknown and the not so routine life. He spent most of his days like this, school in the morning for 2hours and then the rest of the days we spent it exploring the country that we are visiting, most people will say, but he is learning while we do that. And I totally agree he is ,but the love for reading comes with routine and some form of stability. So here we are now stable in Richmond Virginia I am trying to get him to fall in love with reading and below are 5 ways I am using to help him and I think I am succeeding. So lets just get right to it

Okay let me first share with you WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO!

For a parent helping your child to read it can be annoying at some point, and in those moments, it is easy to rely on other systems that does not help encourage reading. some things we as parents, which I am guilty of is nagging your child into submitting to your rule, or you give them bribe to read by rewarding them after reading a couple of pages or finishing a book . Unfortunately, these methods often do more harm than good.

Nagging can easily wear on your child’s nerves and lead them to resent the fact that they are being forced or bribed to read. And while rewarding your child for reading is not bad idea in and of itself, it shouldn’t be relied upon to get your child to read, otherwise the reward for reading becomes the outside reward, rather than the experience of reading itself. I hope you got this one, because it is very important for you to get it.

It is also very important for you to reserve judgment regarding what your child decides to read. It might be your goal for your child to read “the Percy Jackson series”  but know that reading about their favorite comic page in a teen magazine will also considered reading. Reading is reading, and the more your child does it, the more he or she will enjoy it. And with increased enjoyment comes more frequent reading. Hiding your feelings about their reading choices and reserving judgment is paramount if your child is to develop a positive attitude about reading for fun. This is really a key message for any parent to get.

1- GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO READ- The first step is to offer them something to read. The best way to accomplish this is by providing them with something that they actually want to read. most kids are more drawn to short readings, such as magazine articles or articles on websites. And that’s okay! Getting them to read, whether it’s a 500-word blog post or a 500-page classic novel, is the whole goal here.

2- Use Modern Technology (IPADS, TABLETS,KINDLE AND MANY MORE)

A lot of kids already have all the items I have listed. Each of these items are already familiar to your child, so why not use that to create reading  for fun? Children read articles online, or they can download books from websites like Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Children can adjust the size of the font and the color of the page background to suit their preferences. They can also bookmark pages and highlight text, just like in a traditional book. my son loved playing video games with his iPad, so the option of using that for his reading was very slim. so we decided to do more library visits as that was more helpful for him. But if you have yet to establish the iPad and games then please use that to create a fun reading experience.

3- Be a Good Reading Model – This was hard for me as I enjoy listening to audio books instead of reading a physical book. but to help my son I decided to switch back to reading a physical book, so our library trips are now for both of us to get a new book to read. And I must say that is working out very well. So you be the example and your child will follow your lead

What you do will highly influence what your child does. If you sit in front of the TV, that’s what they will want to do. Conversely, if you read for pleasure, it establishes the notion that reading is fun. In fact, research shows that children that are surrounded by readers – be that parents, siblings, friends, or teachers – are more likely to become readers themselves. So there you have it your child is watching and you are his example.

4- Get the Whole Family Involved

Fostering a love of reading can be established by involving the whole family in the process. Scheduling times to read together or have individual reading time can help get your child into the routine of picking up a book and putting down their gamer controller. If there are older children in the house, encouraging them to sit down and read with their younger siblings can bring benefits for them both. Playing reading-related games can be a fun way to introduce reading to children as well. Even creating a book club among your family or cousins can be a fun way to enjoying reading and fall in love with the sport. Discussing the book and having your kids share their view on the book and how they could have been the writer is such a fun way to really get them involved.

I think I will find a way to introduce my son into starting a booking for his age group and share the love of reading with other kids who will also enjoy this love of reading stuff.

I love that by me sharing some tips you are able to help your child fall in love with the art of reading and doing it for pleasure. please comment and share any tips that works for you also.

with love