How to Motivate Your Child to Read

It's never too early to introduce your child to the world of reading. Follow these guidelines, which are based on the recommendations of the America Reads Challenge.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bookstore Gift Certificates
• Book Bags
• Bookmarks
• Library Cards

1. Talk with your child about what you're reading: Share interesting newspaper and magazine articles, point out beautiful words from books and introduce new vocabulary.

2. Provide a good selection of books for your child so that he or she can always find one of interest.

3. Have your child pick out books in addition to the ones you choose.

4. Discuss the books with your child as he or she reads them. Ask questions about themes, characters and how the story might relate to real life.

5. Help your child build confidence by allowing him or her to reread a book several times.

6. Reward your child for reading new books.

Who Can Help:

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[Tumerica]

on 2/20/2009 What great comments. I totally agree--the library is crucial. Letting your child choose books helps. Spend time with your child. Let your child see how much YOU enjoy reading. Ask questions about what's going on in a story. Talk about the illustrations. What the author must be like. Who the creators of the book are as people (it's fun to read about the author and illustrator--lots of colorful characters there, too).

on 10/1/2007 Let your kids pick their own books. If you choose their books and they don't seem to enjoy reading, they probably find the books you choose boring. Let them find books about things that interest them. They might find great books that you wouldn't even think of.

on 7/24/2006 If all else fails, use this as a last resort:

Threaten to take away favorite games or TV time if the child does not read for a time period of your choice each day. For example, tell your child that if he doesn't read for 30 minutes each day he will not be allowed to watch his favorite TV program.

on 11/22/2005 Read the book first. Recommend it to your teen.

If the material is relatively tame, but deals with some adult issues, I feel teens (who are just young adults) will more readily take an interest.

on 11/22/2005 It's not too difficult to convince a young child to read, but motivating a teen is near impossible. Try encouraging the teen to read books that movies are based off of to compare them. Afterwards, try action, suspense, and fast-paced books.