5 Sneaky Ways to Get Your Kid to Like Reading

June 8, 2007 at 11:10 am · Filed under children, childrens' summer programs, discipline, family, family fun, family values, homeschooling, moms, parenting, reading, summer fun, summer school, the sneaky mama, tips & tricks

I started out this post by explaining why some kids don’t like to read.  Then it got too long, and I realized that I would never be able to tell you all the tips and tricks I have to get your kids to read.  So I’ll sum up why some kids don’t like to read in a few short sentences.  Check their hearing and their eyes.  Talk with their teacher.  If you still have no clue, they’ll probably grow into liking it with the right encouragement.  If there is anyone reading that would like me to expand on that. . .I’ll have to do it in another post.

So now onto tricks to get your kids to like reading (or like it more):

1.  Show by example.

Do your kids see you reading?  When you read the message is clear:  reading is important.   Try setting aside a little time every day this summer for reading.  If it is at a consistent time every day, then it isn’t something that they have to stop playing for. . .and then they expect it.

2.  Choose Good Books

Forcing kids to read a book they don’t like is a great way to kill any desire to read.   Another great way to kill a child’s desire to read is to force them to read something that is too hard for them.  (I’ll get to that in a minute.)   If you have a child whose chronically into ‘junk’, go ahead and let him read the junk within reason.  Sneak in quality literature during read aloud time.  (Which I’ll get to in 2 minutes!)

3.   Choose books that are appropriate to your child’s reading level. 

If you’re not sure do the 5 finger test.  Randomly pick a page in the middle of the book.  Every time your child comes to a word that is hard for him, hold up one finger.  If you have all 5 fingers up by the end of the page–that book is too hard–pick something easier. 

4.  Read out loud to your child.

Studies show it is beneficial to read out loud to your child until grade 8.  So go for it.   And yes, you have to do the voices. 

 One great trick to picking read aloud books is that you can pick things above a child’s own reading level to improve his vocabulary and comprehension.

5.  Use some incentives

Just about every library has a summer reading program as does Barnes & Noble.  You may also want to check out Bookadventure.org and during the year, you can always sign up for Book It!  (If your child’s school doesn’t do Book It–offer to run the program for your child’s teacher.)  All of these programs generally offer some type of rewards for reading.

Also, in our house, television and computer time are earned.   Each child (except for the twins who are too young to watch television or read) has an allotted amount of television for each day.  They can watch one show per day.  Anything beyond that has to be earned.  They can earn more minutes by extra chores, saving up their time, or you guess it. . .reading.

I am always happy to answer reader questions about any of my blogs!  If you have something you’d like me to try and tackle–just let me know!

Sneaking in some good literature,

The Sneaky Mama

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