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Writer's pictureMickey Farmer

Reading Time


kids reading

Over the years, your children are going to be required to read more and more. Why shouldn't they enjoy it? Reading shouldn't be seen as a chore, an assignment, or a punishment. It should be something fun, that kids want to do. At least occasionally.


The way to get them to enjoy it later in life is to instill a love for reading now. Get them reading books they enjoy, it will develop a love of reading. You can start by reading to them daily. Eventually they'll read to themselves...but no one says YOU have to stop reading to them once they do. I like to go up a reading level in what I read to them each time their own abilities increase. While they couldn't read, I read board books to them. When they could touch/play with/read board books, I read the children's books that only have 1 or 2 lines per page...or Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss.


With Shel, my boys particularly liked Giraffe and a Half and enjoyed it when I'd try to read each entire page in one breath...because the boy keeps adding to his collection. They'd get the biggest kick out of it when I'd suck in a DEEP breath to get through the whole page!  And Dr. Seuss?  If you don't already know, you'll learn...Seuss is hard to read out loud. But, many of his are classics, so you kinda have to read them. And voices. My boys love it when I add voices to the different characters as I read. Aside from reading to them, create a peaceful place in their home that they'll want to go to when they read. A reading retreat if you will. Then, fill it with books that interest them. I think something that turns some kids off reading are the assignments of some literary classics. Not every kid is going to cotton to Shakespeare. Maybe your kid will prefer Harry Potter, maybe Diary of a Wimpy Kid, or maybe even Dog Man. Either way, get them what they like, they'll branch out from there as they get older.


With my kids, once they could read the little kids books, I read the kids chapter books. Now that they can read those, I read fun young adult novels to them. But, I still do voices as I read, and my kids still love it when I do.


Be sure to check out our other parenting advice.


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