How do I encourage my child to read?
Whilst attending the Northants Parent Carer Voices meeting recently, I was inundated with questions, and I would love to address some of them in this format!
So one of the big questions that came up was, “How do I help my child to foster a love of reading?” “They don’t read anymore. They don’t enjoy reading. I feel like I’m nagging. What do I do?” That’s a challenging one, and I’m going to explore this from a couple of different perspectives.
Where do I start?
Firstly, in schools we teach reading through phonics: helping children learn sounds, assign them to letters, and blend them into words so they can read independently. While phonics is sometimes overused, its purpose is simply to “crack the code,” enabling a student to read independently. In turn, being able to revisit phonics when coming across new patterns, sounds, and how they are represented in words.
However, developing a love of reading depends more on culture than method. If you are not showing a love of reading at home, your child is not going to love reading
In schools, us teachers are often too busy to read regularly with our students, and even at home reading time can be limited. It often ends up being squeezed into 10 minutes before bed. But even 10 minutes a day is still worthwhile.
Exhibit the behaviour
Thinking about what are you doing for your practice at home to help encourage your children to love reading, are they seeing you with a book? Are they seeing you decide that your activity of pleasure is going to be sitting with a book, or are you going to be on your phone?
We are surrounded by phones, tablets and screens 24/7, and I’m aware that you are currently reading this blog on a screen as we speak, wondering how you’re going to get your child to read. I get it. It’s hard. You’ve been at work all day. You’re tired. You’ve come home and you just want to relax, and most of us will reach for a phone and scroll endlessly on social media for hours to relax. And there are lots of reasons for this, but I’m not going to go into that here. What I am going to say is, if you want your child to love reading, you’ve got to show them how much you love reading.
As parents, you are your child’s first teacher. If they see you enjoying a book, they are more likely to sit down and want to read a book. Sharing books and discussing them together can be so valuable for you both.
Please don’t dismiss picture books; they’re a great way to explore ideas, build vocabulary, and spark discussion together. I love picture books because it gives you the opportunity to explore, discuss, and develop your vocabulary together.
This year is the National Year of Reading, encouraging choosing books you love, and there’s something for every interest. For example, football books are popular because students enjoy reading about their favourite players, matches, and clubs. Autobiographies, annuals, and sports content can be an excellent gateway into reading. What a perfect way into books by reading all about something that you love.
But on top of that, it’s momentous for you to be seen reading as well. So here in my classroom, I have a selection of books for the grown-ups but also remember you have the option of going to your local library.
Access to books and other forms of reading
If going to the library is a challenge for whatever reason, you can access the books online. You can get various apps, and yes, I’m aware of the irony of yet another app for your phone or tablet, but this one is different because not all screens are created equal. You can download, for example, the BorrowBox app or the Libby app, which connect to your library card. You can apply for a library card online. These apps have books, audiobooks, magazines and newspapers that you can borrow online, then return just the same as you would a regular library.
Many libraries also offer support services, such as for those who have visual impairments or hearing impairments, you can borrow audio books, large font books, or Braille books. There are so many types of ways into reading that are available for everybody. And it’s well worth looking at what your local library can provide for you. But in the meantime, to foster a love of reading, get reading yourself, share a book with them, talk about what you’ve read together and you’ll start to see something change.