I have heard many parents complain about how hard it is for them to get their children to read. Usually they will say, “they don’t like to read”, “reading is boring”, or something along those lines. Well, I’m going to give you some tips to encourage your child to love reading, regardless of their age.

Read to your child.

Children love to be read to, even older kids. By reading to your child you are modeling proper reading tone (not to fast, not to slow); showing them how to read with expression (upbeat at happy moments); and introducing new vocabulary words they might not know.

Take them to the library often.

Encourage your child to read by taking them to your local public library. At the library, your child can discover books at their interest level and will always have a constant supply of “new” things to read.

Encourage their interests.

What does your child enjoy? Include them in the process of choosing books that they are interested in. Whether it’s a comic book, magazine, or newspaper encourage your child to find books that interest them. If you have a son who is interested in baseball, choose biographies of baseball legends such as Babe Ruth or if he’s interested in coding choose a book on how to code. Regardless of your child’s interests, they will be able to find a book about it.

Set reading times at home.

Encourage reading by reading yourself. Take at least 20 minutes of each day to have a reading time in your home. Make it a family affair by having everyone (yes, including you!) read. Think about it-how can you tell your child to read if you don’t ever read yourself?

So what are some other ways you encourage your child to read? Let me know in the comments.