Reading With Your Child

Encourage your child to have a positive reading attitude

As children grow older, they can become less positive about reading.

Research has shown that when children have a negative attitude toward reading, they don’t read as well. So if your child remains excited about reading, she’ll likely be a better reader.

The best way to inspire a positive attitude about reading is to encourage your child to read books and magazines she’ll enjoy.

Generally, children like mysteries, adventure books and ghost stories. But your child will have her own taste in books.

To discover and support them:

• Let your child select books. Take her to the library. Browse through different areas. If she’s into sports or fashion, guide her to those aisles. Ask the librarian for help.
• Set up a bookshelf in your child’s room. She can keep all of her favorite books there.
• Observe your child’s viewing choices. Try to find books related to a TV program she likes. Get her the book on which her favorite movie is based.
• Encourage your child to read for pleasure. In school, she has to read many standard texts. So allow her to escape sometimes with scary stories and comic books.
• Buy your child a book when possible. Second-hand bookstores are a good source. Sometimes libraries sell used books, as well. Owning books allows your child to reread and treasure them.
• Introduce your child to “series” books—the Baby-Sitters Club, Goosebumps books, etc. Tell her about books you read when you were young—Nancy Drew or Amelia Bedelia. Help her get started by reading the first book in the series aloud together.
• Help your child create her own books. They can be hand-written or designed on a computer.
• Challenge your child to keep a list of all the books and magazines she reads. Give her a special notebook where she can write down the titles and jot a few notes about what she thought of the books or articles.

Reprinted with permission from the January 2007 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2007 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: Catherine Sheldrick Ross and others, Reading Matters: What the Research Reveals About Reading, Libraries and Community, ISBN: 1-59158-066-8 (Libraries Unlimited, Greenwood Publishing, 1-800-225-5800, www.lu.com).