Encouraging Reading – Have Kids' Books in the Home

Jan 19, 2011
Tami Nicholson

Encouraging Reading - Keep Kids Books in the Home - photo by phaewilk from Morguefile

Parents can encourage kids to read and help them do better in school, just by having a variety of good books in the home.

Make your home a home for books too, especially in this age of TV, video games, laptops, Internet and cell phones. Let kids learn the pleasure of curling up to a good old-fashioned book and help them learn to read and be lifetime readers.

Buy Kids' Books

If you want to encourage kids to read, then start growing a collection of books for them. It’s never too early to start either. Save some of your favorite children’s books to pass down or browse through a kids’ bookstore and reunite with your goodies-but-oldies. Give cloth and board books (books made of thick cardboard that can take a beating better) to babies and toddlers. Check out picture books and nursery rhymes for preschoolers and classic children’s books and top 10 for older kids.

Keep Books Handy for Kids

Having a little library at home can be as simple as having a bookshelf of books to a basket of books within easy reach for kids. Read the books daily with babies and toddlers and soon you’ll find kids will be flipping through them on their own or bringing them over for you to read. Having books ready for children means they are able to 'read' books over and over and the repetition helps prepare them for the road to reading.

Benefit of Books in the Home

Experts in child development have found that the more books there are in a child’s home, the more likely he will do well in school. And by having a good selection of books in the home, it encourages kids to develop their own taste in books and find their favorites. That can then lead them down the path of wanting to read more books written by their favorite authors or books that interest them. That’s a good thing because it means the impetus to read is coming from the kids and a place of personal enjoyment.

Visit the Library

Make going to the library a part of your family routine. Search the children’s section and talk to the librarian there to find out what’s popular for your child’s age group and ask librarians what their personal favorites are. Libraries usually offer "Story Time" where staff read books targeting different ages. Many also have special event days or programs ranging from puppet shows for young kids to popular book theme nights for older kids.

To encourage kids to be readers, it’s important to have books constantly available for them in the house. Start collecting books for kids when they are young, keep them easily accessible for little hands and visit the library on a regular basis to give children more opportunities to experience new books.

Also check out Reading Aloud to Kids and Language and Learning to Read.

Source:

Fox, Mem. Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. A Harvest Original Harcourt, Inc.: Orlando, Florida, 2001.