15 Ways to encourage students to read

As a teacher who knows the importance of reading, I try to find ways to encourage my students to read. Of course, parental involvement is most important as children tend to pick up on their parents’ “habits”. I would like to share some ideas I have to encourage your children to read.  Not all of these suggestions will work with every child, but once you find the key, you will develop your own techniques.

1. Care about reading yourself.  Children who know that reading is important to the adults in their lives (parents, teachers, grandparents, etc.) tend to put more emphasis on reading.  Children who see their parents read are usually readers themselves and accept reading as a daily activity.
2. Allow your child to read for fun.  Children are required to read every day at school.  They must read in every class and, most would agree, that is not fun.  Allow your child to read what interests him or her, even if it is a magazine.  Set aside some time for the whole family to read so your child knows that this hour is set aside for reading.  No television, video games, etc.
3. Subscribe to magazines that interest your child.  Subscribe in their name so they have some ownership in the idea.  Also, visits to the news stand to purchase magazines is a great idea.  Again, allow your child to pick the material (of course, you need to monitor to make sure it fits in with your family’s values).
4. Put a bookshelf in your child’s room for his or her books.
5. Read aloud to your children and encourage older siblings to read to their younger brothers and sisters.  Again, they see their parents and older siblings reading, they tend to want to read themselves.
6. Take your children to the library.  Open a library card in their name.  Teach them how to find books that interest them and have them check out books with their own cards.
7. If age appropriate, recommend books you’ve read to your children.  Give them a brief synopsis and let them decide if they want to read it or not.
8. Allow your children to read to you, encourage them and praise them when they do.
9. When a child starts asking questions, encourage them to look it up.
10. Review vacation spots by reading travel brochures and books.  Encourage your children to find facts about your destination, and spots in between.
11. Discuss books your child is reading for school.  Read the book yourself so you have a frame of reference.  This usually provides good discussion.
12. When you are assembling something, have your child help by reading the directions to you.
13. Praise your child for reading.  If your child has finished a difficult or long book, celebrate the feat with praise.
14. Ask your child to review a book he or she has just finished.  Ask them if they recommend it to you.
15. Shop for books on the web with your children, such as at Amazon.com.

I hope this list helps, and I’m sure to be posting more in the future.

Share on Facebook