Children Reading: Creating a Love of Reading at an Early Age

I will never forget a conversation I had with a parent of one of my first graders my first year of teaching.  She had three lovely daughters, but they were all very different.  She said as a baby, her oldest child always had books in her playpen, and now she loves to read.  The middle child was always near the television, and now her favorite thing to do is watch television.  The youngest always had some sort of game to play with, and now her favorite thing to do is play video games.  I always remembered this conversation, so when I started raising my youngest, I made sure to always have books nearby.  I acted as if they were a reward and something very special.  Now my daughter's favorite thing to do is to read books.  At 2 she sometimes sits with me, and we read 10-20 books before she is ready to get down. 

Here are some tips to foster a love of reading at an early age:

**Always have books available to your child.  (I recommend checking out garage sales.  You can get a great library started very inexpensively.)

**Start a reading routine when your child is an infant.  Reading a book is a great thing to do right before going to bed.  (If you haven't started this routine already, it is never too late to start.)

**Books make great rewards!  If your child has done something extra special, and you decide to get her something, get her a book.  This reinforces the idea that books are something special and builds your child's library.

**Go to the library with your child weekly.  Get excited about getting new books.  If you are excited, your child will be excited too.  If you are free during the day, many libraries have great story time programs for young children.  I recommend having a special location for library books, so they don't get lost.

**Be mindful of some different stages of reading:

• Infant: Loves the sound of your voice, so you can read anything.
• Older baby: Wants to grab the book and turn pages.  Touch and Feel books are great!  Note that you will need books with very few words on a page.  It is okay if your child skips around.  Let her enjoy the book even if you don't read the whole story.
• Toddler: Begins to have favorite stories and will start to read parts of the story with you.  She may still want to skip around.  Sometime she will sit and read the book herself.  Praise her attempts even though they may sound like babble.
• Preschooler: Loves books with more of a story.  She will probably have favorite characters she likes to read about.  Start encouraging her to "read" books herself.  She can do this by looking at the pictures and inventing the story.  Make sure you let her know how proud of her you are for reading.
• Elementary School Child: This age begins the exciting process of learning how to read the actual words on a page.  Your child will probably bring home books to read from school.  Be sure to praise your child as she reads these books, but don't forget to still read to your child.  Beginning readers do not have much of a story.  She still needs to hear good reading modeled.  
• Older School Child: At this age, children are reading chapter books.  It is important to get them books they are excited about reading.  Your child may still want you to read with her.  You could take turns reading chapters at night.  Keep up the routine of going to the library.