Reading is a gift – it takes you on a journey, opens your eyes, raises questions and exposes you to new thoughts and ideas. It’s a great way to spend time with your kids while encouraging them to develop a necessary and important skill.
Here are a few tips to help you and your kids enjoy reading:
Designate Reading Time
Setting daily reading time with your child is an effective way to motivate him or her to read more. Whether it is during breakfast, after school or before bedtime, a set time of day infuses routine and stability, giving your child something to look forward to.
Does this mean bringing out a hard-cover book? Not necessarily. If your family uses electronic gadgets such as a tablet, this can be great medium to learn and read together. There are many books as well as games or apps that can be downloaded that both you and your child can enjoy and learn from.
Learn a New Word a Day
Download an app that shows you a different word every day, pick out a word in an encyclopedia, or have your child flip to a random page and select a word with his or her finger, then study it and learn the spelling and meaning behind the word. If you would like to go even further, you can encourage your child to use that word in a sentence the following day to help with memory retention.
Learn Through Listening
Audio books, learning songs and trivia challenges help build comprehension skills and vocabulary. There are services online that offer not only audio books but also offer a wide range of activities that are sure to stimulate minds and help foster enhanced reading and writing skills. Perform a search on the Internet with your preferred search engine to see what you can find.
Keep a Journal
A journal is a great way to bolster your child’s creativity and enhance reading and writing skills. It can be a written journal to encourage writing skills, or set up a journal on your family computer that everyone can add to. Keep this journal for your family private by avoiding online cloud programmes. To add another layer of learning, encourage kids to use some of the new words they have been learning to further enhance their vocabulary. A short daily journal entry will help keep their skills sharp.
Start a Book Club
Organize a book club amongst your children’s friends. Host a get-together once a month, where they can discuss the latest book they are reading. Make it fun by serving some snacks and drinks (you can even theme them around the story).
These tips will help ensure reading is an enjoyable experience that you and your child will relish. By making reading fun, you will ensure that your child enhances his or her skills and it will be a memorable experience that you can share together for years to come.
