March is National Reading Month. Here are some helpful hints for raising children who love reading!
Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at Free Digital Photos.
1.) Shoot the T.V.
OK, don't actually shoot it, but you get my meaning! Too much screen time kills the attention span and stifles imagination and creativity. Seriously limitting or even ommitting screen time in your children's schedule frees them to spend more time reading. Books seem so much more interesting when T.V. is not even an option!
2.) Read aloud!
It is never too early or too late to begin reading aloud to your children! It is recommended that parents spend at least 20 minutes reading aloud to their children each day. We read much longer most days simply because we enjoy it so much!
Once when I was growing up, our family decided to read The Swiss Family Robinson together in the evenings. Each of us took turns reading a few pages, and we covered about a chapter per night until it was finished. This is a great way to enjoy a story, teach important lessons, discuss new vocabulary, have family time, and build memories! This also helps children form positive feelings toward books and reading in general.
3.) Find a good book series!
Introduce your children to some good book series. Once the child has enjoyed one or two books in the series and gotten to know the characters, they are very likely to want to read more stories about them.
This worked for me as a girl! I received a book from the popular Mandie mystery series as an award at Bible camp one year, and I enjoyed it so much I had to read every Mandie book I could get my hands on after that! Here are just a few more favorites to get you started:
Concord Cunningham Scripture Sleuth
The Little House series
The Sugar Creek Gang
The Farm Mystery Series
The Boxcar Children series
Encyclopedia Brown series
The Adventures of Nathan T. Riggins
4.) Treat reading like it is something special!
Give your child the message that reading is enjoyable by giving books as gifts or as awards for their accomplishments! Some children might enjoy setting reading goals and being rewarded when they meet them.
Let your children see you reading! They will want to immitate you!
5.) Offer books on subjects that interest them!
If your child has special hobbies or interests, be sure to offer them plenty of reading material related to that topic. Are they enjoying learning about a certain topic in history or science? Help them find books to read and learn more!
Does your child have a hero? Find a good biography! We have recently learned through studying our family tree that we are distantly related to several important individuals in American history, so Big Brother has been extra eager to read books to learn more about his "cousins!"
If you have little ones, be sure to also check out tips in my post Preparing My Baby to Love Learning
How do you encourage your children to read? What are your children's favorite books or series of books?
Be sure to connect with me on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook!!
Link Ups I Join - Modest Monday, Hip Homeschool Blog Hop, From House to Home, Women Living Well, Fellowship Friday, Weekly Wrap Up -, TGI Saturday, Share It Saturday, The Homeschool Mother's Journal, Mom 2 Mom, Growing in Grace
This post contains affiliate links. I receive a small commission when purchases are made through these links. Thank you for blessing our family this way!
Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at Free Digital Photos.
1.) Shoot the T.V.
OK, don't actually shoot it, but you get my meaning! Too much screen time kills the attention span and stifles imagination and creativity. Seriously limitting or even ommitting screen time in your children's schedule frees them to spend more time reading. Books seem so much more interesting when T.V. is not even an option!
2.) Read aloud!
It is never too early or too late to begin reading aloud to your children! It is recommended that parents spend at least 20 minutes reading aloud to their children each day. We read much longer most days simply because we enjoy it so much!
Once when I was growing up, our family decided to read The Swiss Family Robinson together in the evenings. Each of us took turns reading a few pages, and we covered about a chapter per night until it was finished. This is a great way to enjoy a story, teach important lessons, discuss new vocabulary, have family time, and build memories! This also helps children form positive feelings toward books and reading in general.
3.) Find a good book series!
Introduce your children to some good book series. Once the child has enjoyed one or two books in the series and gotten to know the characters, they are very likely to want to read more stories about them.
This worked for me as a girl! I received a book from the popular Mandie mystery series as an award at Bible camp one year, and I enjoyed it so much I had to read every Mandie book I could get my hands on after that! Here are just a few more favorites to get you started:
Concord Cunningham Scripture Sleuth
The Little House series
The Sugar Creek Gang
The Farm Mystery Series
The Boxcar Children series
Encyclopedia Brown series
The Adventures of Nathan T. Riggins
4.) Treat reading like it is something special!
Give your child the message that reading is enjoyable by giving books as gifts or as awards for their accomplishments! Some children might enjoy setting reading goals and being rewarded when they meet them.
Let your children see you reading! They will want to immitate you!
5.) Offer books on subjects that interest them!
If your child has special hobbies or interests, be sure to offer them plenty of reading material related to that topic. Are they enjoying learning about a certain topic in history or science? Help them find books to read and learn more!
Does your child have a hero? Find a good biography! We have recently learned through studying our family tree that we are distantly related to several important individuals in American history, so Big Brother has been extra eager to read books to learn more about his "cousins!"
If you have little ones, be sure to also check out tips in my post Preparing My Baby to Love Learning
How do you encourage your children to read? What are your children's favorite books or series of books?
Be sure to connect with me on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook!!
Link Ups I Join - Modest Monday, Hip Homeschool Blog Hop, From House to Home, Women Living Well, Fellowship Friday, Weekly Wrap Up -, TGI Saturday, Share It Saturday, The Homeschool Mother's Journal, Mom 2 Mom, Growing in Grace
This post contains affiliate links. I receive a small commission when purchases are made through these links. Thank you for blessing our family this way!
This an awesome list! I am in the process of raising a reader and from what I've seen, you are spot on! Thanks for sharing :-)
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