My kids are active, voracious readers. At least one book (500-700 pages) a week. It feels like one of the only things that I've really done right as a parent.
My kids are active, voracious readers. At least one book (500-700 pages) a week. It feels like one of the only things that I've really done right as a parent.
How did you do it?
This is one of those questions non-parents ask.
Kids come out as a person, with strong opinions and desires. You can shave off some rough edges, and maybe bend a few branches of their experience.
But if you present a kid with the opportunity to read, and they read, you can’t take much credit. That’s just who they are. Others are given the opportunity and don’t.
You can fail to provide the opportunity, but after that, it’s pretty much up to the kid.
As a life long reader, on my own, and to my kid, including many a night time baby -> toddler -> easy chapter -> harder chapter read, my kid doesn’t read books. Certainly competent to do so, but just doesn’t. Possibly we could have continued to deny access to Netflix until later (it was 1 hour a week until about 10). No YouTube allowed. Still, didn’t read. Other kids do, and I’m jealous.
Make it joyful
Read books yourself
Make book an important part of your life
Read to the kids
Teach them to read early
Little to no phone use early on
> Read books yourself
Not a parent, but I'm guessing this part is very important :)
I would also say the reading to kids part.
My father goes through books like nothing; my mother not so much, but I have very fond memories of her reading "jock of the bushveld" to us.