Before I had kids, I knew that I wanted to make an effort to help my kids develop a love of reading and books!
It can be a little overwhelming when you think about it. How do we not only teach children to read, but to love books? Reading is a skill that everyone needs. But loving books is what really makes good readers and will help our children to be successful in the future!
Not only does reading help expand children’s imagination, it is one of the best ways to study and learn new skills!
So, how do you instill a love of reading in your kids??
1. Keep books in every room! Have books out and available for your kids to read in as many rooms as possible. Over time I have changed where we keep what books, but we have always had books in almost every room. This way no matter where you are in the house, kids can sit down and read.
2. Create a book nook. We just barely put together a fun little book nook in my daughter’s bedroom closet. Now several times a week the kids will disappear and it will get quiet and I will start to worry… What are they up to? Then I will go and find them reading in the closet, surrounded by books! The scene always makes me smile.
3. Have special books!! I love having special books that are for special occasions. We have our Sunday books. We have our educational books that help us practice different skills like colors, numbers, ABC’s and more. We have mommy’s favorite books… Sometimes I get bored of reading the same thing over and over and I don’t want to get tired of reading my favorites, so I save them for special occasions.
4. Story time with mom or dad. My kids love it when we read to them. I would love to have story time everyday. In fact, when it was just Lanae, we did have story time every day! However now it is just so hard!! But story time is important. The kids learn so much from interacting with you and listening to different stories and also benefit from the special bonding that occurs when you read together.
5. Independent reading time. This is something that we have just started and I think it is so exciting to see my kids reading by themselves. I would love to eventually just have this be a routine part of the day. But right now I just watch my kids for cues. They are pretty close in age so they are either playing well together or fighting like crazy. Independent reading time is a great way to distract them from the fighting and get them to calm down! Lately I will have Lanae pull out the books while I prep dinner. That way I have a little peace and quiet. It’s nice!
6. Go to the library often. My kids love library day so much that I can use it as incentive. It really gives them a sense of ownership when they get to pick out books! It also helps to have a variety of NEW books for them to read to keep them interested in books. I like to also choose some books that apply to what they are learning or going through in life. This way I have specific and unique examples to help teach them how to respond to certain situations. We checked out tons of books about babies to help prepare the kids for a new baby!
7. Give books as gifts. I think this is one way for you to show your kids that books are important and special. This year we decided we would give one book and a special experience for their birthday gifts!! We made sure to choose extra special books. Owen now has a special train book that we use for lesson time!
These are such great tips!