More Tips to Help Promote a Love of Reading

Here are a few more suggestions to help promote a love of reading.

• Create a special reading space in your home. Make sure it's in a quiet area away from traffic and distractions.
• Get your child his or her own library card. Make visiting the library a weekly or bi-weekly event and encourage them to pick their own books. Get some books for yourself so that your child will see the enjoyment you get from reading.
• Help your children make their own books. Come up with different themes and have your children draw or paint pictures that fit the theme. Work with them to create captions or stories for their illustrations. When done, staple all the pages together to make the book.
• Make reading part of your everyday activities. While shopping, read signs in the stores or on labels. When traveling, encourage children to read ads and street signs. Bring books to pass the time while waiting for appointments.
• Leave your children notes - on their pillow, in their lunches, etc. Even if they can't read the notes themselves, children will love hearing other people read notes written especially for them.
• Take out subscriptions to various kids' magazines. These magazines offer both reading opportunities and activities that your child can do independently as well as with you.
• Enroll in storytelling classes. Most libraries and many independent bookstores offer story time classes for children of all ages. These classes are great because they give your child access to different books and different approaches to reading making each session very enriching.
• Play what-if games with favourite stories. What if the story ended differently? What if the main character acted differently in a certain situation?

For more information:

• Classroom Connections - Literacy Connections http://www.classroomconnections.ca/en/literacycnct.php

By Rochelle Strauss