I want to help my four children gain a love of reading too and help them find the joy that escaping into a good book can give. There is nothing quite like it.
How do we help our kids? How do we teach them about the pleasure, the escape, the excitement that books can give and make them want to pick up a book all by themselves.
As parents I think we have a big responsibility as our child's first teacher. I don't agree with leaving it all up to school teachers to teach them. I want to have a hand in it too.
So what can we do to encourage and foster a love of reading in our little ones.
- Play simple word games with them like eye spy and hang-man.
- Sing songs and nursery rhymes.
- Paint and draw. Let them express themselves creatively.
- Play with blocks.
- Do a jigsaw.
- Play outside. Playing with sand or water is a great way for them to learn about simple numeracy concepts.
- Read to them as often as possible. Children love it when you spend time with them. Make it light-hearted and fun.
A trip to the local library is always a fun outing in our house. Libraries are wonderful places. During the holidays they have story-time or arts and craft days, that are a lot of fun.We should lead by our own example too. If your child sees you reading, they will be more inclined to want to read themselves. Make sure you have lots of reading material about the house - books, magazines, comics, information books, novels, maps, recipe books, shopping lists. Remember to praise them when they try out new things. Be encouraging and make it a happy, positive time.If reading isn't a chore and is something they like doing, when they are older it will make life a little bit easier for them and that is what all parents want for their children.
Melanie
