In the age of the Internet and high technology, children increasingly hear reproaches from their parents. Especially often adults are unhappy that modern children do not read enough. How to teach your child to love books?
Attitudes towards books
All of our activities can be divided into labor and leisure. When a child reads “from under the stick,” it is only natural that he perceives it as work. Today’s parents punish and scare with books, so the child is formed in relation to reading the following theses:
- “Reading books is boring.” Many of the adults know that this is not true, but continue to form the wrong child’s position about this kind of leisure;
- “All books are not interesting.” When a child is introduced only to works from the school curriculum, he or she begins to believe that all books are like that. Classical literature is important, but it is okay not to like it. Leave it for the school curriculum, offering your child those books that could keep him interested.
- “Reading is a way to punish me.” This child’s attitude is the hardest to deal with. Don’t use reading instead of an “angle.” It won’t help parenting and will only discourage books.
You can’t force a love of books, but you can try to instill in your child a love of reading. So how do you teach a child to love to read? Let’s try to figure it out.
Start reading yourself
The love for books is not born in a short period of time, it is a long process, which is better to start in childhood. Teachers give the following tips for accustoming a child to reading:
- Read aloud to children yourself. It is better to start from the first years of your baby’s life, let the child get used to it. It’s okay that at first it will be poems and fairy tales, as the child gets older you will move on to more serious works. In order to get the baby into the process, ask to keep track of the place in the text you are reading. Reading in paragraphs works well – part of the text is read by the parent and part by the child. It also fuels interest in books (especially in young children) by reading by role-playing.
- Start reading on your own in your free time. Psychologists say, “everything comes from the family.” Children do adopt their parents’ behavior. Leading by example is a good way to form such positive habits as reading literature.
- Make a home library with different genres of literature. Even the most intransigent child will sometimes take a book from the shelf. He may not read it, he won’t be interested, but curiosity is already a good dynamic.
- Do not leave the plot of the work inside the cover – talk, share your impressions, give examples from books to life situations. The child will understand that even the events of a fairy tale have a parallel with real life.
- Allow your child to participate in the choice of books you want to read, consider his or her tastes and interests.
Choosing the right book
It is important to choose the right literature to read with your child. Initially, it is worth focusing on the age category of the child. The book should teach you something new and make you think, but it should not overload a child with an incomprehensible storyline.
For children under two years old, books with large drawings, applique. The text should be a minimum, or even not be at all. Baby will just be interested in looking at pictures.
Babies 2-3 years are well suited for poems and nursery rhymes, stories for the very young. Children from three years can start reading fairy tales and stories about nature and animals. At this age, children become actively interested in the world around them, they have a lot of “why? Try to answer children’s questions, or better yet refer to encyclopedias for answers to difficult questions.
When the child goes to school, he will not have so much time for additional reading, you should not burden him, give time to adapt to the school routine and daily homework. At the same time, gently and unobtrusively suggest reading for at least half an hour a day. This will allow the child to develop the skill of reading and, at the same time, not overwork themselves.
When choosing a book for your child, consider the message it carries. Good books teach your child things like empathy, kindness, and an understanding of right and wrong. Also, pay attention to the print quality of the book – the paper should be white and the font should be large and easy to read.
A book is an interesting world
A child is in many ways a reflection of his parents. From birth, children try to copy the behavior of adults, to resemble them.
With initiation to reading as well – a parent should show by example that a book is an interesting world, and reading is the best leisure. It’s hard to explain to a baby that books are interesting if he doesn’t see adults reading.
You need to set the right example, talk to your child about the benefits of literature, how it has a wonderful effect on our lives, what a wonderful leisure time it is. And don’t push, don’t use a book as a lever of pressure if the child doesn’t like to read. It’s worth taking your child for a walk and visit a big bookstore, where you can let him look around, get acquainted with books of different genres, bright designs – you can even play with your child, arrange a simulated casino, where the child will choose the books he likes best and play roulette, games are always positive emotions.
It is also important to consider how well the child’s reading skill is developed in order to introduce them to books. The faster children read and better understand the text, the easier it will be for them to get acquainted with literature and develop a love for it.
Everything can be learned
Reading is a skill that can be developed and improved. Naturally, a child or adult who doesn’t read much will do so more slowly. That’s why it’s important to teach your child to read first, and it must be done correctly and consistently. Some parents teach their children to read themselves, while others delegate this task to a first-grade teacher. But it’s better to prepare your child for school in advance and teach not only the alphabet and syllable reading, but also instill basic fluency.
Especially well cope with this are reading courses for schoolchildren and preschoolers. Teachers, based on years of proven methods, effectively instill in the child reading skills, and the game form of learning allows not only to get knowledge, but also to have a good time.
