Books Are a Start, But

10 things parents anxious to raise good readers should know

  1) If one more person says reading to a child twenty minutes a day will make that child a lifelong reader, I will throw my Kindle at them.

Consider this stranger-than-fiction story: Once upon a time, there was a patient, well-intentioned new mother who was determined to raise her son to be a voracious reader. She read to him every night for that magical amount of time that “experts” tell us activates the reading gene. She set up a cozy reading nook in his room. Books were always part of holiday and birthday presents. Board books gave way to pop-ups to sensory books to chapter books to magazine subscriptions to inappropriate comics to gross-out graphic novels. And today, at the ripe old age of fifteen, her son still does not read for pleasure. And, as you’ve probably already guessed, I am the mother of that boy.

Looking back, I can honestly say I would change very little. In fact, when it comes to reading, I do pretty much the same things for my seven-year-old daughter as I did for my son — except that I now apply some hard-won wisdom gleaned over the years.

Don't try so hard

 2) Every six months or so, some genius will write an article on how to get boys to read. According to the last one I read, it’s not with gross-out books and video-game bribes. (Who knew?) Read these kinds of articles with a grain of salt, then grab a book and read it in front of the fire you started with the article.

Keep things in perspective

 3) Beware of parents proclaiming that their child is a natural-born reader. In many cases, these parents are avid non-readers who can’t believe their luck. And, yes, it is luck in many cases. I believe I am lucky to have a daughter who loves reading so much she walks out of her school with her nose stuck in a book.

Remember, it all adds up

  4)  Your child may not be reading for pleasure, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t reading. Remember English class, where teachers made you read the classics? This year, my son’s required reading includes, Lord of the Flies, Romeo and Juliet, and Beowulf.

Don’t judge a book by its cover

 5)  Reading those classics you loved in childhood is one thing — but there are other forms of reading and learning, too. My son reads music better than his father, who majored in it. And after five years of weekly Mandarin lessons, he can read Chinese characters that look incomprehensible to me. If your child seems uninterested in stories, try exposing him to other languages or subjects that strike his interest.

Cut screen time — and the amount of screens you keep in your house

 6) Limiting screen time was difficult when my son was young in the olden days of the early 2000s. Today, it’s almost impossible. Still, I’m convinced it is the one thing that parents can do to compel their children to spend time reading. Rather than trying to limit screen time, I now simply eliminate some of the actual screens. The only handheld electronic device my daughter uses is a Kindle. I also removed the family room television, which was turned on to cartoons whenever she was near it. It also doesn’t hurt to make the idea of having a TV or computer in your children’s bedrooms as absurd as reading in the dark.

Guilt trips don't make better readers

 7) This might seem obvious, but just in case: Complaining about how much money you spend on unread books is a surefire way to ensure your child will never like to read for pleasure. Just thinking of it makes me want to put down my book.

Downtime is just as valuable as reading

 8) Could your child’s schedule be so packed that there’s no time for a book? If she’s involved in enough daily activities to fill a day and then some, don’t expect her to pick up a book during the ten minutes she has free.

It’s not what or how much your children read, but how much they understand what they’ve read

 9) As a tween, I spent hours in my beanbag chair devouring horse books. If you had asked me to describe the plot or characters, I would have looked at you dumbfounded. Essentially, I was reading to impress my parents and wasn’t emotionally mature enough to tackle those stories.

Keep reading to your kids their whole lives. There’s no “right age” to stop reading to kids.

 10) My son and I may no longer cuddle up with a book and his blankie before an eight o’clock bedtime, but I still read to him. I’ll read book excerpts and snippets of articles while he’s eating (or otherwise unable to easily escape my presence).

Continue to buy books you think would interest them

 11) The most recent unread book I left on my son’s nightstand was Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. I really enjoyed it, and suffice it to say, I enjoyed telling him about it. For his birthday, I bought him Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and for a recent holiday, a coffee-table book on Fender guitars.

Posted by: Georgie

Credit: babble.com