Ways to make
reading FUN and PERSONAL for your kids!
Emily A. Swan, Ph.D.
Last week, I
talked about the some common pitfalls parents make when trying to motivate
their children to read. Yet, often these ways backfire.
I encouraged
you to make reading FUN! So how are you doing? I’d love to hear about your
progress?
·
Are
you reading to your children daily?
·
Are
you going to the library?
·
Are
you having conversations with your children about what they are reading?
·
Are
YOU reading?
·
If
you answered NO to any of the above questions, What is the problem??
o
What
to do: start TONIGHT reading with your kids! You can always start!
This week, I
am going to talk about the topic of INTEREST and how vital it is to helping
your children see the relevance to
reading. Interest also plays an important role in helping your child find connections to what they read, which
makes reading more FUN, so kids actually spend more time reading. It’s a nice cycle to get into.
The Importance of Interest
Can you
imagine if you walked into Barnes & Noble and the sales person greeted you
at the door and said, “Oh hello. The books you are allowed to read are on this
table.” So you walk to that table and there are only 4 books, none of which are
about anything you find interesting. But those are all the choices you have.
You are not allowed to read “thicker” books, books on “those” topics, books by
“those” authors, books with “those” genres, or even books on “that” level! Ridiculous,
isn’t it? You would NEVER go back to that store again!
But what
kinds of choices to we give kids? We tend to think we know best what our
children, or our students should like, should read, or can read. The truth is,
often we are wrong. The following few guidelines might be helpful the next time
you are trying to convince your child to spend more time reading.
1.
Interest is one of the most important
reasons to read.
This is true for adults as well as children. When we can find something of
interest to our children, chances are, they will listen to us read it to them;
or better yet, they will read it on their own if they are able to do so. Even
if our children are young, they can thumb through page after page of books on
topics of their interest, if we have
them available.
2.
Interest
is more important than reading level. Research has shown that kids who have
a high interest in a topic, will read for longer periods of time and will
struggle through more difficult text because their interest is the motivation.
This doesn’t mean that you can give your child ANY book. But it does mean that
you can find books at appropriate levels on
the topic of interest and your child is much more likely to read them and enjoy them!
3.
Interest
is the way that readers determine what is important.
Authors determine importance by how their books are structured, how much
information to put into their books, and how deeply they cover a topic or topics.
Teachers or tasks determine importance by curriculum standards, time, and
skills that need to be taught. But INTEREST is how individual readers determine
what is important. If kids don’t think reading is important, they won’t read
for pleasure. They will only read out of compliance to do an assignment for a
teacher and this is NOT the way to increase a child’s love of reading!
So.
. . what are some ways to generate interest? How do you make reading FUN? How
do you make reading INTERESTING?
1.
Create interest! If
you don’t know what to read to your kids, or to have your older children read, create a situation that generates
interest! How? Buy a pet (the creepier the better). Buy a snake. Go on a
fieldtrip. Go on a hike. Go to the zoo. Visit the aviary. Look for bugs. People
watch. Go to an amusement park and watch the different kinds of rides. Look at
things differently. Go somewhere and
NOTICE THINGS! Observe. Draw pictures of what you notice. Pay attention! This
is the first step.
2.
Ask
lots of questions! When you ask your child, “Why doesn’t
the rollercoaster fall off the track when it is upside down?” your child will
have to think about the answer. “How do roly-poly bugs have babies?” Do you
know? I got asked that question when my daughter was 4 and we were looking for
bugs. That one question took us to the library and we read books about
roly-poly bugs for a week. Listen to the questions your child asks when you are
on a hike, at the mall, at the zoo, or looking at amazing birds. Questioning is
the beginning of wonder. Wonder is the beginning of curiosity. Curiosity is
long-term interest!
3.
Write
down the questions. All of them. The only stupid question
is the one to which you already know the answer. All the rest of the questions
are fair game. When questions are written down, you have a list of reasons to
read.
4.
Find
interesting books—LOTS of books—on the topics that
interest your child. Go to the library, to the bookstore, to your own shelves.
Find a big stack of books and sit and read to find the answers to the
questions. This takes time and it is a BLAST to do with your kids. You will
learn things too! Go to the internet and look things up and see if you can find
other information. LEARN as much as you can!
·
Interesting books, by definition,
are books that (1) have vivid details, so that kids can get information by
looking at words or photographs, (2) have colorful illustrations, diagrams,
pictures, etc. that allow kids to get information in a variety of ways, and (3)
have information that is easily accessible to children (e.g., clear
explanations, short snippets of text, clear titles and subtitles, etc.)
5.
Read!
Together! Find as many answers as you can. Get smart!
6.
Make
connections to your life. Help your child make connections to
their life. Take pictures of your hike, your trips, your adventures, your
observations. Talk about them. Find the relevance to your child’s life in the
reading and questioning and searching for answers. Your child will remember
these times! They are powerful.
7.
Share
what you know with others. Have your child share with a friend, a
sibling, a grandparent, your spouse, whomever—what they have learned! It’s
amazing how empowering this experience is. All of a sudden, your child becomes
the expert on a topic of interest.
They know something and knowledge is
power!
8.
Repeat!
Do these steps again and again. This is the process of learning. And it is one of the secrets to a happy LIFE!
Summer is almost here! There are so many great things you
can do with your children to spark their interest! Every Public Library has a
list of Award Winning Books. These are the Newberry (Best fiction book),
Caldecott (best Picture Book), the National Book Awards, and even the Utah Book
Award-winning booklist. Start with these books! They win awards for a reason.
You can pick up this list at the library and there is a section of the library
that showcases these books and authors.
If you are interested in other tools, stay tuned, I’ll give
you more tips next week!
Action
Plan for This Week: Create interest with your child. Find out what
your child finds fascinating. Then get books and read about it! Remember to
allow your child to wonder and question. Write down the questions. Read to find
the answers and share them with others. This is a winning cycle that will teach
your child how fun reading can be!!
No comments:
Post a Comment