Tips to encourage your child to read

A good book should strike a chord with your child: it should fill them with wonder, grab their attention, or stir up feelings. To pinpoint your child’s interests, try asking them the following questions:

• What are your favourite book genres?
• Who is your favourite literary character?
• If you wrote a book, what would it be about?
• Etc.

While some children are happy to dive into a book on their own, many need a little encouragement. To motivate your child, consider planning family reading time. Using the group effect may help pique your child’s interest. Follow these steps for an ideal reading experience:

• Choose a time in advance and mark it on your family calendar
• Turn off the television and other electronic devices
• Create a relaxed atmosphere (appropriate lighting, cushions, blankets, etc.)
• Have several books and magazines available (in case someone forgets to borrow a book from the library)
• Etc.

When we enjoy a good book, our love of reading grows. If your child reads silently, without understanding the intonation or emotion behind the words, they may not have much fun. To help your child fully inhabit the story, you can ask them to read aloud while encouraging them to do the following:

• Give every character a different voice
• Take breaks and summarize what they’ve just read
• Comment on the story and talk about the characters
• Etc.

Books are universes to be shared. They give parents and children the opportunity to discuss different topics and discover each other’s interests. One fun way to motivate your child to read is by having a reading contest. Here’s how to get started:

1. Your child chooses a book.
2. They decide how many pages they’ll read per day.
3. After they’ve read their daily pages, they pass the book to you.
4. You read the same number of pages as your child.
5. At the end of each day, you and your child take a few minutes to discuss the book passage.
6. Repeat steps two and three until you finish the book.
7. If you can’t keep up, you owe your child a treat (carrot flowers in their next lunch, a special drink before bedtime, etc.).

To help your child understand and enjoy what they’re reading, try asking them questions:

• What’s the title of your book?
• What’s the book about?
• What are the different characters’ roles?
• Is there a character with special traits?
• Where does the action happen?
• How do you imagine the main character?
• Etc.

It’s a well-known fact that most children prefer movies to books. Why not use this interest to encourage your child to read? Given that plenty of books have been adapted for the big screen, you can strike a deal: as soon as your child finishes a book, you can watch the movie together. In addition to boosting your child’s motivation, this strategy will allow them to play “spot the difference”:

• Find inconsistencies between the book and movie versions
• Describe how the characters looked in their mind versus on-screen
• Etc.