- Spend 10 to 20 cozy content minutes every single day reading aloud.
- Read as much non-fiction as fiction with your child. Pair books, a non-fiction dinosaur book with a fiction dinosaur book.
- Read aloud with animation. Have fun, your child will be learning fluency just by listening to your voice.
- Read for pleasure, showing your children the real enjoyments in reading …you are not just “getting reading done,” you are reading for happiness.
- Visit your local library and let your child look at all kinds of books experimenting with different genres, series and interests to their hearts desire.
- Entertain both you and your child by reading joke books or comics once a week in 2012.
- For your older children make sure you give them a driver’s license examination booklet, local maps, bus schedules and high interest articles from newspapers.
- Give your child a subscription to their own magazine. It becomes a great motivator to read each month.
- Create a special reading nook in their bedroom. This can be as simple as a beanbag, a basket of books and an old afghan.
- Once each week have a “mind candy” night. Think about your own reading habits, sometimes we all need a good old-fashioned page-turner. Let your child read that well-loved book again.
Remember to talk with your child as you read. Your child can not be wrong about their opinions about what they are reading. Allow them the flexibility to communicate to you their true feelings about what they are reading, even if you don’t agree. This is a wonderful time to encourage their efforts in reading.
If you, as their parents, value reading, your children will come to value reading. The efforts you make as a parent, to instill a love for reading in your children will result in lifelong enrichment. Open a book; I promise the words you read, and your voice, will last a lifetime in your child’s mind.
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