Creating the reading habits in children

Reading doesn't just happen, it is a skill must be nurtured from a child's earliest years.
Once children know how to read, they still need support to reach their full potential as readers. Besides, they need help to develop their ability to read so that they can comprehend subjects better at school.

When a child starts first grade he would have already watched some 5,000 hours of television, then there are games download, instant messaging, browsing the net. Not to forget audio books and e-books. Consequently reading habits among children are on the decline.
What, then, is the solution? Dump the PC? Ditch the TV? Creating the reading habits in children.

*Create a separate reading area--Ideally a quiet and comfortable area where the child would like to spend time. Try to provide an area which is near your collection of books.
*Spend reading time with your child -- Whenever possible spend time reading with him and then discussing what you read.
*Make reading fun -- Read to him and act out portions to make the experience lively. This is sure to arouse greater interest.
*Go to buy books together often and let young reader pick out books he/she is interested in reading- Don't worry if the books are not difficult. Reading books they are comfortable with improves their fluency and helps develop comprehension. Keep in mind that the goal is for your child to read.
What to Avoid

-Nagging -- Pressurizing and hounding a child will only increase his resistance.
-Criticizing his choice-- If he is taking the initiative to read books of his choice, encourage him, even if he is choosing books that are too light and easy to read. In time he will go for more serious options.
-Setting tough goals --Don’t expect great things in short time frames. Encourage him gently, instead.

Excellent suggestions, of course you are preaching to the choir here.

When my kids first started in school I was surprised to find that many of their classmates were not read to by their parents, many didn't even have books in their home. We are not just talking about the economically disadvantaged kids here. Many had parents who spent untold amounts of money and time on sports, dance (hula), gymnastics, etc....but not books or reading.

When I thought back on it I realized that my own parents didn't read to me or really have reading material in the house. What sparked my interest in reading was a few wonderful teachers who read to us in class. That's what made all the difference in my life.

So......short story long, I became the "class mom" of my kids kindergarten and first grade class. I came in every morning and would read with a small group of kids or I would read one on one with a child who was having more difficulty with their reading. I hope I was able to help some of them along and perhaps even spark a love of reading. I hope.:flowers:

Thanks for reply and above all, thanks for share your experiences as mother and your children's memories.

Well, I expressed a widespread vision about the creating of reading habits especially in countries where there are a consumer habits.
You are right, some of my suggestions just can be applied if a family has good income for spend his money in reading books.

Although, It is not necessary to make huge investments in children's books. Visiting your local library will give access to enough material.

My parents read to me when they could, but most of my earliest memories involve my grandmother telling me stories when I'd come to visit. They were mostly fairy tales and yet they sparked my interest in fantasy. So it's really no wonder that once I could learn to read that I was getting fairy tale books and things like "The Vampire in Love".

Of course! Our grandparents have been a great teachers and a clever storyteller.. Besides, they rewarded our efforts with candy and they teached us to find the magic of reading.

(( When I was a little girl, I didn't understand the meaning of emphatic tone in some dialogues, so my grandparent explained me my doubts with a brilliant perfomance while we read together.. Nice and funny memories !! )

The first book that I read with my grandfather, it was Treasure Island By Robert Louis Stevenson. He gaves me this book when I was 10 and now I have a great treasure in my own bookcase.

my daughters favorite thing to do it read books.. she is two and already knows her alphabet in upper and lower case and is starting to understand the concept of putting letters together to make sounds that turn into words... yes, reading haha... but the fact that she can do it makes her want to do it all the time

before she was even one i would read whatever novel i was reading out loud to her so that she was hearing regular speech instead of "baby talk" she speaks fairly well and loves to hear me read still... my son doesnt really have as much of an interest seeing as i cant do it as much since im no longer a stay at home mom but he still loves hearing me read and he is only one.. so im hoping he copies her when it comes to being excited about reading and listening to stories...

i think the reading out loud before she could walk was the best thing i could have done.. but i also know that if i try to force it or make it official (like reading time and things like that) she HATES it... she doesnt like being told what to do... but if i just let her she prefers reading books over watching tv... i like having blues clues and super why on a lot since it promotes reading and putting sounds together..

theres also a fantastic website that does little quizzes so they learn the letters, not the alphabet, meaning the actual letters instead of just reciting the "poem"...

sorry, i get a little talkative, sorry.

The good news is some publishers (especially dealing in youth literature) are beginning to offer interactive webplay, etc. to not only drum up support for their brands but also to try to hook kids into the world of the book before publication, thus encouraging reading the books once they're available.

I can think of the Fairy Godmother Academy and The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel off the top of my head.

Any others?

I suggest to Spend reading time with your child...
read together with him, but the most important thing...
don't force him to read...

amitbt said:

but the most important thing...
don't force him to read...

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That is so important. When you are reading to a young child you are creating a love of, and a hunger for, stories. Don't fall into the trap of turning reading aloud time into phonics drills and so forth. I honestly think that's what's turning kids off from reading is that schools are skipping the reading for fun part and focusing on the drills.

I think of it like this. Imagine sending your child to dance class where they learn the movements but they never actually get to do the performance. Insert practicing a sport (football). They spend endless hours practicing and drilling but they never get to play the game. That's what we do when we emphasize practice drills without exposing them to actual world of stories and imagination. We're often missing half the equation because teachers don't think they have the time for just reading aloud.

I'm not saying this as well as I'd like but I think you get the point.

great tips

There are some excellent suggestions in the first post in this thread. I also like the "don't do" things as well. I've seen some parents exhibit those very things and their kids won't be caught dead with a book, it's sad really.:sad: The important thing is to model, model, model, and model. Even when they can't read, you sharing a book with them consistently will help them to learn to read(whole language theory here) and before you know it, they will start pulling books down off the shelf instead of watching t.v. I have had this happen a lot, and I love it. I use to think that I had to throw out the t.v. or do some other luddite action, but that really isn't necessary. We try to make technology our friend, and not our enemy. We have the leapster learning games and another one that has the user trace letters and numbers, as well as identify colors. We feel this is "good" technology while an X-box will rot their brain.

SFG75 said:

The important thing is to model, model, model, and model.Even when they can't read, you sharing a book with them consistently will help them to learn to read(whole language theory here) and before you know it, they will start pulling books down off the shelf instead of watching t.v.

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Of course, although the motivation to read also tends to decrease as kids get older. Reading is like any other skill.For some high school students, just reading a chapter in a textbook becomes like climbing a mountain, even though they are good readers.

Once children lose interest in reading, it's hard to get them back. Because of that, your child may almost have to disassociate what he's doing at school with the act of reading something for fun. For kids who have lost the motivation to read, the way back is through material that's intensely interesting to them.

Hi everybody & Cosimah2o.

Cosimah2o said:

For some high school students, just reading a chapter in a textbook becomes like climbing a mountain, even though they are good readers.

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I am agree. A number of high school students, and even college ones, are not fond of reading course textbooks. I have worked in the DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL SCIENCES of Padovia and Ghent university.
Many of my college students now hardly ever read some of the required readings ( their textbooks or the reading list in their course) or even the newspaper so I notice a lack of depth and ignorance of current issues. As a teacher, it makes me sad indeed.

Many classes requiring 200+ pages of reading weekly, that is, an organized reading would begin at breakfast time until the start of his classes and resume it during his off-class hours. (( Of course, I don’t mean to label all college students as lazy either – there is also the very highly motivated bunch)).
But I have had some students that their regret was not having developed a reading habit in their childhood. IMHO, The school failure is lower, if a child develops a good reading habit. Then, Encourage your child to read! By the way, good advices!

Reading habit is agood habit and it should become habit of every children as it increases your word power and can also speak that language very fluently..so this is good habbit

amitbt said:

I suggest to Spend reading time with your child...
read together with him, but the most important thing...
don't force him to read...

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Agreed. I used to teach at a pre-school. Something i was always doing when the kids were playing quietly was reading. They would always come over and ask what i was doing. I would always tell them "i was playing". I did this so they would associate reading with something that was fun. It worked wonders as a lot of the children in my class started to ask more and more about reading. We started reading more books during class.

Reading is obviously a good habit as it raises an interest of reading in children...

MarkCool said:

Reading is obviously a good habit as it raises an interest of reading in children...

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Besides, reading and developing a long-term appetite for books is one of the best ways of generating a child's imagination skills. For this reason, picture books are great for early learners, helping both language, vocabulary and reading skills, as well as fuelling their imagination.

It's definitely and important thing to instill at the earliest age possible.
I grew up without a TV, a computer, video games, etc. so that was an advantage, but I remember my mother reading to me numerous story books, and when I learned to read, my sister taught me the love of books. I was given my own little book shelf to fill, and I loved it.
Once, when I was 5, my mom stopped in at Chapters (a Canadian Barnes and Noble), and right then I fell in love. I didn't want to leave. I thought it was the most amazing place in the whole world.
From then on, all I wanted for my birthday, for Christmas, anything- were books, and I got them.
We also visited the library too, which was a big help. But the biggest influence for me was that I could see how much my sister loved reading, and I wanted to know why she loved books so much. So it's never too early to teach your kids to love books, even if it means reading to them every night. They'll love you for it.