Kids Reading Step One -Started Reading to Him as a Baby
From JDaniel’s babyhood I read to him. He never wanted to sleep and seemed to be always awake. I sang to him, I bounced him in a bouncy seat, and I read to him. He mostly got to hear the text from picture books and board books. There were times when he got to hear me read the newspaper, cookbooks, magazine articles, and well just about everything I was reading.
Not only was he hearing what I was reading, but he was seeing both my husband and I holding reading material. From a very early age he saw that reading was important to us.
Kids Reading Step Two- Books Were Everywhere
When I packed the car for road trips, I always packed books. During road trips when JDaniel was little I sat in the backseat and read to him. He had favorites like Goodnight Moon , but he loved it when I packed new books. He really loved books that had texture on the pages like Good Night Moon.
Kids Reading Step Three- Visits the Library
Library trips were really important when he was little and still are today. We would go on treasure hunts to find books I thought he would like and then sit among the shelves on the floor and read them.
It was no surprise to me when at just under two JDaniel would crawl over to one of the book baskets spread around the house to pull out a book and look at it. Literally, I had baskets in the bathroom, kitchen, living room, and each bedroom. If I got busy with making a bed or a meal, he just pulled out a book. He loved to look at books.
Kids Reading Step Four – Picture Walking
Kids Reading Step Five – Rotating Books
Child reading or reading to your child is so important. It was on of the basic keys to learning in my book.
How have I worked on growing a reader?
- access to books of all kinds that JDaniel can reach for
- display that reading is important by reading yourself
- read regularly at bedtime or other times during the day
- bring books with you when you leave the house
- exposed him to all types of reading material (fiction, non-fiction, atlases, dictionaries, etc..)
- picture walk through books and talk about what he saw in the pictures.
- seek out books on topics my child is interested in.
This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday.
What are you doing or did you do to grow a reader?
(Visited 283 times, 1 visits today)
Those are fantastic ideas!! We have Good Night Moon and it is a favorite in this house too!
I somehow miraculously grew a reader out of my 9 year old. As toddlers they NEVER let me read to them. They always pushed me away and wouldn’t sit and wouldn’t have the story time. I was heart broken. I really wanted to have fun story time every night. I started at 6 months old even. And i still couldn’t get them to cooperate.
They always loved looking at the pictures in books, but once I sat down next to them to share in picture looking, they pushed me away and took off.
Somehow they miraculously still learned to love books and reading. My 9 year old now gets in trouble for reading all night instead of going to bed. lol. He loves books and reading. It makes me happy, but he still needs to sleep sometime. lol.
I was lucky. Not everyone is lucky like me where their kids still learn to love reading. Maybe it’s because we always had books all over that they can enjoy. I work at getting books they can enjoy; that fit with their interests. And possibly because they always saw me reading a big book..for long hours at a time. 🙂
I love all that you have posted here. I have used a lot of that with my girls!
We’ve been doing the same!! Now our oldest pretends to read his dad’s books!
I did the same and my oldest (almost 13) is a voracious reader just like me. He reads so much, it’s hard to keep up with him. My youngest (9) isn’t quite like that despite doing all the same things with her. I’m not sure why, but we’re working on it. She’s a fantastic reader, but she doesn’t turn to it for pleasure the way that I do or my son does. I gave her my old Kindle to read her chapter books on and I think it’s helping to make it more “fun” for her. We also do DARE time ( “Drop Everything And Read”) as a whole family on the weekends for an hour or so each day–where we all sit in the same room and read–and that’s been helpful, too.
We do much of the same! Pierce definitely appreciates reading more now that he can read for himself.
We do the same here! Reading is so important and I like that you display it for your kids to learn and cherish!
These are great ideas – most of them happen in our home. Thanks for the reminder about picture walking through non-fiction. I need to do more of that.
I always read to my son and he’s a reader now at 31….
Keep up the good work!
Wonderful post for H and so ‘spot on’ ~
(A Creative Harbor) aka ArtMuseDog and Carol)
Great H post. We are all crazed readers here, now focusing on the next generation. One can never have too many books or read too much 🙂
Reading is definitely one thing most important in a child’s development.
Lovely post. We do all of these things too and I agree that they are so important. My mom also did these things with me and it definitely worked!
I grew 4 readers. Rod grew the other two. How satisfying to know that wherever they are, they can always continue to learn and be entertained.
What a beautiful post – I totally agree with everything you have said!! I teach students who have a disability and I have an absolute passion for teaching Literacy. I drive my class over to our public library once a week to borrow and it is one of their favourite activities. I think particularly of one student who just loves books – and I really means LOVES them. He will borrow one for the week and carry it around with him everywhere he goes, asking everyone he can find to read it over and over and over again to him! He makes me smile so much when I see him carrying his books around everywhere he goes 🙂
YAY! I read to both my daughters EVERY night before they went to sleep until they were teenagers and mow they DO read – a LOT! JDaniel is a lucky boy!
Hi again!
Totally agree – reading is such an important skill.
Visiting from Alphabe-Thursday
My parents bought my son a bird identification book from the Audubon Society. It’s certainly not something we will ever read cover to cover, but he LOVES looking at the pictures and seeing the differences and similarities in all the different birds. Fiction is fun, but non-fiction and even reference books can be great as well!
Little C loves to read, too. We encourage it as much as we can, although she tends to get obsessed with certain books, which can be tedious for us, on our hundredth reading of The Belly Button Book. Good for you for encouraging your son to be a reader!
Your so right about starting the reading
experience at an early age and the children
will love books.. infact books were gifts
for holidays and not toys, in my house.
Good post, now if all the parents read
and live by it..
Sandy
Growing a reader is so important to me! We have followed the same things that you have and Nate loves reading/books/libraries!
You are spot on! I love taking my grandchildren now to the library, and every town has their own special things about it, so we make the rounds, and keep making it interesting. They are now learning to check out their own books, and we also rent the books on CD and listen to them while they follow along in the car! Very cool stuff for children!
been an avide reader all my life
now grandma’s ( me ) house is full of kids books again…its fun to read children’s books with them
I think my kids love to read because I love to read. Watching me take such pleasure in it made them want to do the same.
Of course, I read to them a lot, too.
=)
Since I’m a librarian and couldn’t wait to start reading to my little guy, I started reading books out loud to my belly at about 6 months along!
I love these ideas! I am actually having some trouble because my son is TOO much of a reader (a Kindie reading on a 5th grade level). I can’t find books that interest him but yet aren’t too advanced. But I love having readers in my house.
Reading to pass time on road trips? That is SO smart! And that is one place we havent been reading books! Thanks!
Great post. As you know, my 6 year old is an avid reader and was reading fluently since she was 3. We did a lot of similar things, but I also exposed her to letters very early. Our nursery was done in alphabet theme, and the only time she had access to the computer is to look at Starfall. Then I started teaching her reading from Progressive Phonics material (it’s a free online course), and she just picked up and ran with it. Now she is reading anything she can lay her hands on but prefers fiction and fantasy (she also really enjoyed non-fiction when she was JD’s age).
You are so on target! I really feel that modeling is key. My 2 year-old now grabs the Kindle and hands it to Daddy when he heads for the bathroom! He also grabs a magazine to look through while having a snack. It’s such a thrill to see him grow as a reader. Heck, I believe so strongly in growing a reader that I named my blog, Growing Book by Book! Thanks for sharing a peek into all the great things your are doing with your son.
We’ve got books all over here, too and read to my older two all the time. Hopefully, the youngest sees her sisters reading because, well, she doesn’t get read to as much!
We love books here as well 🙂
So far, Broxton loves books and I hope that this continues throughout his life!!!!
I just love the way you tell us about things!
Growing a reader! What a neat way to phrase that!
We’re working really hard to grow readers in our Grandlittles. Their Mom and Dad don’t read and don’t like to read. It always warms our heart when we see the girls with their noses buried in books!
Thanks for sharing this happy post!
I always love visiting you!
A+