- Read Aloud
Reading aloud is a great way for you to model as a parent your love of reading. Be sure to read with expression and enthusiasm to get your child excited about reading. Ask questions and talk about books to get your child engaged in the book. Establish a routine to do this daily with your child or read every day as a family.
- Visit the Library — Weekly
Our school library is available every school day for parents and kids. Make it a habit to go once a week with your child to help him or her select books and get excited about reading. Check out a variety of books so that your child gets familiar with a variety of types of books.
- Develop a Library at Home
In addition to the books your child can check out at school, be sure they have a place to keep books at home that they can read and enjoy. This could be a bookshelf in their room where they can choose books to read independently, with a sibling or with you.
- Write Stories to Support Reading Skills
Writing stories can be overwhelming for kids at times. At the beginning, make it easy and fun. Try the idea of adapting a current storyline of a favorite book and having students turn that into their own story. Early grades especially can benefit from this strategy to support a student’s writing until they are ready to writ) on their own. Consider integrating apps, such as StoryBird and FlipSnack, which allow for a collaborative writing experience.
More Suggestions to Keep On Reading:
Here is another resource that you might want to check out:
Ten Ways to Cultivate a Love of Reading in Students: The Edutopia blogger Elena Aguilar provides more great tips.
These tips I’ve shared today may not be new, but they are a way to help you stay on course with nurturing a love of reading in your home.
This newsletter article was adapted from an article entitled, Read With Me: 5 Tips to Foster a Love for Reading written by Lisa Dabbs that can be found on the Edutopia blog at: http://www.edutopia.org