Getting Your Kids Interested in Reading

What does it take for parents to get a teen to become a practicing Muslim?

1.Looking for ideas on getting your kids interested in reading? Then make it a family activity. Here are some ideas:

2.Incorporate books into standard family games. For example, play charades with book titles.

3.Have family outings to the library and have every family member check out one book.

4.Start a family reading night in your family where you can read and discuss a book together.

5.Kids love performing plays and drama skits for the family -- why not incorporate that into their book reading? Have them read a book, choose their favorite scene, and then recreate it for the family.

6.Simply read to your children. You will both benefit from the time spent together. And your children will benefit from stretching their imagination and learning new things.

Getting Your Kids Interested In Reading Is Easy...But It Takes Time!

All parents (at least most of them) want to see their children take an early interest in reading. Reading can not only help your youngster in their education, but can also show them many different worlds and help trigger their own imagination. Like anything else, the love of reading is a behavior that is learned. The parents are the key to building the foundation early.

Personally, I loved reading as a child. I was reading children's books at the age of three. Now that I have a child of my own, it is important to me that he learns to love books as much as I did. So we started reading to him when he was just weeks old. As we would rock him in his chair we would read him a book about animals, showing him the pictures as we went along. At the time, I had no idea if he was really comprehending what I was trying to teach him. Once he began to go to Sunday School, I was delighted to have his teacher tell me that he loved books!

Parents, the example above shows me that your child can learn that reading is fun. Now my son is too, and he tries to "read" his own books often. I read to him every night before he goes to bed, and my wife reads to him several times throughout the day. To me, taking the time to read books to my little boy is an extension of showing him how much I love him. As a result, he looks forward to our reading time together, and loves his collection of books.

For older children, it is harder to get them interested in reading. A suggestion is to find some books on subjects that interest them. You can start with sports books if your child prefers playing baseball to reading, for example. Another tip is to spend some time reading on your own. Your children watch you, and learn from you. If they see their parents spending some time reading, they will in turn look at reading as a good activity for themselves.

As a child, one of the fun things we did during the summer was take a weekly trip to the local public library. My mother let us spend some time picking out books to check out, and then would help us read them if we needed it. Visiting the library will give you youngster exposure to literally thousands of various types of books, showing them that they can read about almost anything. This is a good way to save money as well. Financial constraints should never be a reason not to get your children books to read. Our public libraries are in place partly for that reason.

I am sure that other parents out there have great ideas that they have used to get their children interested in the world of reading. Take the time to look at these ideas. More importantly, spend time with your kids and with some good books. Showing your child the world of reading is a gift that they will appreciate for a lifetime.