How To Get Children To Read

[j. d. worthington]

Again, this may come down to a question of semantics... I don't know how it is with others, but with my daughter, it was a "rule" in the sense of "a daily ritual"... and was instituted when she was born... I'd read to her at bedtime while rocking her to sleep or lying down and letting her drift off on my chest... And, as a result, it became quality time together, and she was always trying to increase the amount of time ("one more story..."; then "just one more tonight?" and so on). If it is handled in that way, as a way of growing closer together as a family, it tends to have favorable connotations, good memories, and even if they don't do much reading as they grow older, they tend look back on it with fondness and want to share it with their kids.

[CarlottaVonUberwald]

but to the same extent when that child ( if sorry)grows out of that trying to hold them in it would just buold resentment

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by CarlottaVonUberwald

but to the same extent when that child ( if sorry)grows out of that trying to hold them in it would just buold resentment

True ... if it's forced. But there's no need to force it... just do it up to the point where they're establishing their independence, and let them take their own course... Again, if they see it as a "comfort" thing, then they tend to return to it by their own choice.... And it can evolve, too.... into reading parts in plays together, with different people in the family acting out different parts... all sorts of ways to make it more enjoyable for anyone who remains interested...

[CarlottaVonUberwald]

my brother was read to and has grown up with readers...it jsut isn his thing..like i said he reads now but he reads becasue he's allowed to read what he wants... i say if all they'll read is a comic book be thankful they read..i mean feel free toexpose them to other things. but don't assume becasue they are reading differently to you or their siblings they have a problem or ou need to make them read more/less/ or differently.

wow i wrote a calm resonable post yay me

also this does depend on the age of the child somewhat

and to the person who blames TV its oh so easy to blame televison.. something that can be stimulating interesting and informative for ones own or others short fallings (not a personal shot to you just in general)

[j. d. worthington]

I'd tend to agree. Part of how I learned to read was also through comic books, and I still have a great fondness for the better ones... So, yes; it depends on the person's taste, as well. Good discussion going here....

[CarlottaVonUberwald]

of course it has to be said that i know most parents/teachers are just concerned but sometimes too much of that does more harm than good and it depends so much on the child and the age..even the place. that to say one way is right would be irresponisble

[nixie]

Library every week for 4 years, bribes, threats, dragging around books shops.Nothing ever worked.Remember discussing it with a teacher when he was around six, I honestly thought he couldn't read, when I used to try and get him to read his reading books to me I was meet by a wall of silence.His teacher explained it wasn't the fact he couldn't read more that he didn't want to.

[Marky Lazer]

Originally Posted by nixie

How do you get your children to read?

Whipping.

[Alia]

Oh... yes, lets resort to physical violence to teach our children the joys of reading! I don't see how that would be effective or funny if that's what you were trying to be, Marky.

[Marky Lazer]

OK, in normal language, when no one understands me when I talk Mark-speech...

I was trying to say, if kids do not like to read, you can try to force them, but it will only make them think reading is bad. So, do not do it.

[Alia]

OK, in normal language, when no one understands me when I talk Mark-speech...

I was trying to say, if kids do not like to read, you can try to force them, but it will only make them think reading is bad. So, do not do it.

Thank you Marky for the clarification. It sounds so much better that way.

And I'm sorry if I sounded harsh... it's been a tough day with the two year old.

[Nesacat]

Reading at bedtime is very comforting. maybe it's the rhythm of familiar words and sounds and pictures in a book. Maybe it's having someone you love to yourself for a while in a pool of quiet at the end of the day. The children may not grow up into readers but I believe the memories here will stay and they will do the same with their children. It forges lasting bonds.

As for comics. Those were what got me hooked. They were what my mother used to read. And we still have them, battered and stitched together though they are. They were a series os comics based on Hindu mythology published by Amar Chitra Katha. Comics seem to receive a lot of bad press but I feel that they are a good place to begin reading and a wonderful stepping stone, especially today when many novels are being turned into graphic examples. There's Mort and the Hobbit for instance.

There's so much reading material out there in so many different forms and while we can bring books home, leave them in piles round the house, make trips to the library exciting, we can't force them to read. I believe they will read when and if they find a book they desire to read.

[jackokent]

Originally Posted by Cloud

The most important tip in my opinion? Don't let your kids watch TV indiscriminently and constantly. For a long time I thought this didn't matter, because I grew up watching TV and certainly watch a lot of it now, and I've been a reader all my life. I now think differently because I think the amount of TV viewing has changed from when I was a kid. TV is SO ubiquitous, and so commercial that I do think it damages children. Watching too much tv not only takes up time they can be reading (or doing something else, like spending time with family or doing something active), it shortens their attention span and ruins their concentration.

So, good luck with that book thing! This is my first post, too btw.

Welcome Cloud

I agree with you. Too much TV all together.

[Teresa Edgerton]

I tend to agree with Carlotta that TV is given too much of the blame. It makes a convenient scapegoat, that's for sure. We hear people say that TV is the culprit so often, there's a tendency to take it for granted as incontrovertible truth.

But children have so many other sources of amusement that they didn't have when I was growing up. As Cloud says, there were fewer TV shows that were likely to appeal to children back in the day; certainly that was true in the '50s when I was growing up. And no computers, or video games, or iPods, or ... well, the list goes on. With all that time on our hands, you would think my generation would all be voracious readers, but that just is not the case at all.

The kids who lived next door to us, none of them had a love of books, although there were plenty of good children's and YA books in their house -- I know this, because I borrowed a lot of them. And my older brother and sister, they don't read much either; I don't believe that I've ever seen my sister pick up a piece of fiction and read it in my entire life. I have many fond memories of my father reading to me when I was small, so it's more than likely that he read to them, too, when they were little, and naturally they had access to the same books that I did. As for TV, they're both in their sixties now, so you can imagine how much of that they were able to watch at an early age. (I remember the first time I ever saw a TV; it was at a neighbor's house, when I was about 3, which means my older siblings would have been 9 and 11.) I love to read, and they don't. It's hard to see how TV could have been a factor; they simply found other interests, and continued to be interested in those things instead of in books.

In the end, all parents can do is encourage their children to read, and make the books available -- after that it's just a case of individual personalities. To let parents whose children did not pick up the habit in spite of all their encouragement feel that they are to blame -- because they let their children watch too much TV, or whatever reason -- just isn't fair.

[Marya]

I remember participating in the summer reading program every year at my local library. They put your name up on a big sheet of paper that got hung on the wall. For every number of books you read, you got a sticker and at the end, you got a certificate for participating. I think on that now and wonder how well it would go over today. I remember thinking how cool it was to see my name up and all the stickers behind it from all the books I read.