How to encourage your children to be stronger readers

Using this time to encourage your child to become a better reader has a multitude of benefits beyond doing well in English. Stronger readers have greater general knowledge, excel at conversations and analysis and have better all-round writing skills. Here’s how to boost your child’s reading skills.

Foster a family of readers

Reading for 20 – 30 minutes every day as a family is the key to getting children to love reading and become stronger readers. Try having a set time post-lunch or before bed when everyone settles down to read. With older children let them be autonomous but talk to them about what they are reading so they can get used to critical thinking around their books.

Let your children choose what they want to read

 As tempting as it is to ensure your children only read ‘good’ books, you need to let children choose what they want to read. You also should not worry whether a title looks too young or too old for a child. If a book has caught their attention, then let them take it and make up their mind.

Get them used to deep reading

There is a difference between deep reading and skimming. Deep reading occurs when a person becomes immersed in a book and isn’t distracted by other things. The benefit of this type of reading is it’s the opposite of using a device, which nurtures an increasingly short attention span. Deep reading also means your child will have a better chance of retaining what they have read. 

Read to your kids

You may think your child is too old for this, but you’ll be surprised at how much children of any age like this idea. Reading aloud helps all kids understand the importance of reading expressively. Also, it fosters the development of listening skills, comprehension and understanding of new words.

Find out why they don’t want to read

If they’re a confident reader but have stopped reading, they may have become turned off by the reading they need to do for schoolwork. As their school reading is linked to exams, teens can begin to see reading as ‘work’. If this is the case, try to engage them in areas they are interested in and let Netflix be your lead. For instance, if they like horror or crime, open them up to books in this area. 

With younger children, it could be the pressure of having to read the same kind of books, in which case find some humorous and more light-hearted reads. It doesn’t matter if the books aren’t challenging as the key here is to ignite a love of reading first.

Make sure they see you reading

There’s no point forcing your child to put down their iPad/phones to read if they see you still on yours. If you are trying to show them that reading can be for pleasure, you need to model the behaviour too.