6 Easy Ways to Get Your Kids to Enjoy Reading

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Inside: Tired of the whining when you ask your child to read? Use these easy tips to help your child enjoy reading with little to no effort.

โ€œI hate reading! Why do I have to do it?โ€ my daughter said in a whiny voice. This was the usual response when Iโ€™d ask her to go and read something. Chances are good if youโ€™re reading this, youโ€™ve heard those whiny words too. Maybe even had some tears shed as well. One thingโ€™s for sure, when a child hates to read, itโ€™s frustrating as a parent trying to figure out how to get them to enjoy reading.

Two of my three children really werenโ€™t natural book lovers. It took creative thinking and careful observation to figure out how to get them to come around.

Iโ€™m not going to tell you they are bookworms now, but they definitely read more than they used to and my youngest doesnโ€™t bristle when I suggest reading a book.

My oldest is now an adult and voluntarily buys books to read. Thatโ€™s a huge accomplishment if you could have seen him when he was younger.

Enjoy Reading

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Below is a picture of my crazy family. I’m a homeschool mom of 16 years. Before that, I was a school teacher for nine years. I have a bachelor’s degree in elementary education (K-8) and a master’s degree in special education (K-12). Iโ€™ve taught in both the regular and special education classroom settings. So Iโ€™ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.

homeschooling family

Reading Statistics

So why do we even care if our kids like to read? I mean whatโ€™s the big deal? Many adults seem to get by just fine, donโ€™t they? Or do they?

Letโ€™s take a look at some of the statistics reported about children who donโ€™t read or arenโ€™t read to.

On a weekly basis, 23% of parents report never reading to their children, and 26% of parents report only reading once or twice.

Let’s look at how many words your child is introduced to when he reads or is read to.

A typical board board book contains an average of 140 words and a typical picture book has around 228 words!

Reading statistics

The image above shows that a child who comes from a literacy rich environment will start Kindergarten having heard 1.4 million words! Thatโ€™s amazing!

You can see that reading to our kids has a huge impact . But what about when they read by themselves?

Take a guess at what you think the correct answer is to the question below to see how effective reading to our kids is.

Reading Statistics

The answer is D! Can you believe it?? That’s a lot of words!

So reading does make a difference! The trick is getting them to do it.

There are ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ to help your children enjoy reading. Yes, you read that right!

And I’m going to share my reading tips with you. So read on!

๐—ง๐—œ๐—ฃ #๐Ÿญ–๐—จ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€!

Interactive books are probably my favorite types of books! 

Children who don’t enjoy reading need to have something that draws them in. 

They need to be ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—น๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜†, whether it be touch, sound, or movement.

When you can find books that do that, they’ll be ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ!

๐—œ๐—ก๐—ง๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—”๐—–๐—ง๐—œ๐—ฉ๐—˜ ๐—•๐—ข๐—ข๐—ž๐—ฆ:

๐Ÿญ. ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—น๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ- They involve active learning vs. passive learning and are hands-on in some way.

๐Ÿฎ. ๐—”๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜†- Information is presented through several modalities: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.

๐Ÿฏ. ๐—–๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ- When a child has an experience with a books, it makes it memorable and more interesting.

๐Ÿฐ. ๐—œ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป- Making a connection between the reader and written word will improve their understanding of the story.

Books that have surprises and raised elements are exciting and hold a child’s attention.

interactive books

Lift the flap books are great for younger children. It gets them physically involved and also teaches object permanence!

lift-the-flap books

Books like this Academy series are fantastic! They have the children doing activities, building models, playing games, using stickers, and so much more!

Here’s a video I made for a reading event that demonstrates ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€ that children love.

๐—ง๐—œ๐—ฃ #๐Ÿฎ– ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ง๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น

Just handing your child a book isn’t going to make him or her love reading.

But if you can create an atmosphere around reading time that’s enjoyable, they’re more likely to want to do it.

Here are a few ideas for making your reading time special:

๏ปฟ๐Ÿญ. ๐—–๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ:

Many kids want to have some ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ with their parents. Snuggling up with a good book is a great way to do that, especially first thing in the morning when they want your attention.

Bedtime is also great. Children are willing to do anything to stay up later because they like to ๐—ฆ๐—ง๐—”๐—Ÿ๐—Ÿ! Why not capitalize on that and let them stay up a little longer if they read a book in bed.

reading area

๐Ÿฎ. ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ- Sitting on a chair at the kitchen table to read wonโ€™t be very enticing to your child. In fact itโ€™s going to do the opposite because it feels like school  (especially if youโ€™re a homeschooler) and stir up all the reasons he hates reading to begin with. Youโ€™re shooting yourself in the foot!

Reading Area

Instead, try sitting or laying on a couch, bed, or comfy floor cushions. I know this makes it difficult for you not to fall asleep if youโ€™re reading aloud (been there, done that) but to your child itโ€™s inviting and special. A fun idea is to hang a chair or pod from the ceiling in your childโ€™s room for when heโ€™s reading alone.

Reading area

๐Ÿฏ. ๐—ž๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜- Limit distractions when your child is reading, especially if he or she is an auditory learner. Turning off the television and electronics can help your child focus and better understand what heโ€™s reading.

๐Ÿฐ. ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—ป- Reading in a monotone voice isnโ€™t enjoyable for anyone. If youโ€™re doing a read aloud, use expression, act out parts, and be silly! For independent or together reading time, sit in a teepee or small tent.

Reading area

๐Ÿฑ. ๐—จ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด- Make sure the lighting isnโ€™t too bright or too dim. Using special lighting like string lights is fun, just make sure it’s bright enough for your child to see the words without straining.

 Also using a clip-on light that attaches to the book can be fun for your child to read alone in bed at night.

Reading Area

๐Ÿฒ. ๐—›๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜†- Keep a variety of books available at all times to expose your children to different types. This keeps it exciting but also allows you to discover the types of books they are drawn to.

Enjoy Reading

๐Ÿณ. ๐—•๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜- If your child falls in love with a book, be ready to read it over and over again! This is a good sign. Go with it!

For very young children repetition helps them to memorize the book and they’ll pretend to read it on their own. This pretend reading is actually an important step in the reading process.

๐—ง๐—œ๐—ฃ #๐Ÿฏ– ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ง๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด- Use Dual Readers

This is a simple trick but has such a ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜!

Does reading a whole book overwhelm your child? I know it did mine!

By taking turns reading, it ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ and makes the book more approachable. This is a fantastic trick for kids who are already reading well but don’t really enjoy it.

You can alternate pages or paragraphs. Some may even need to go sentence by sentence. And that’s okay!

๐——๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ are great for your younger, beginning readers because there’s a page with text for the parent and another page with easier text for the child.

Give it a try and see if it makes a difference. Before you know it, your child will gain confidence and start reading more on his or her own and rely less on you.

Enjoy Reading

๐—ง๐—œ๐—ฃ #๐Ÿฐ– ๐—จ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐˜ Your Childโ€™s Reading ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น

Did you know there are ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜€ of reading? It’s ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ between each.

Depending on the difficulty of a book, children (or anyone for that matter) can move back and forth between these levels and it can affect how much they enjoy reading.

๐—ง๐—›๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—˜ ๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—”๐——๐—œ๐—ก๐—š ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—Ÿ๐—ฆ

๐Ÿญ. ๐—™๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น

Difficult for the child to read. Decoding words, vocabulary and concepts are too difficult for him or her. Reading at this level will frustrate the child and squash any interest in reading.

๐Ÿฎ. ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น

Challenging but manageable. The child needs the support of the parent. This is the level where new concepts and words are introduced and it’s best used when the child is being taught.

๐Ÿฏ. ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น

Relatively easy, enjoyable. The child can read the book on his/her own comfortably and easily understands what is read. It’s not stressful.

๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด, ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น.

I canโ€™t stress enough the importance ofย  picking books that are appropriate for your childโ€™s reading level! He will enjoy reading so much more when he isnโ€™t trying to decode every other word. Take the time to discover your childโ€™s independent reading level.

๐—ง๐—œ๐—ฃ #๐Ÿฑ– ๐—™๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€ for Kids

I know this one seems obvious, but not all books are created equal.

Some are:

  • Boring
  • Inappropriate
  • Unappealing

In order for your child to even want to look at a book, it has to ๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜„ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—บ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ถ๐—ป.

Great books meet the following criteria:

๐Ÿ“• colorful

๐Ÿ“˜ engaging

๐Ÿ“” interesting storyline

๐Ÿ“— fun characters

๐Ÿ“™ great illustrations

๐Ÿ“˜ high quality

Great books

๐—ง๐—œ๐—ฃ #6They Enjoy Reading If It Interests Them

๐—™๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑren’๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐˜€! This is key to finding books they will enjoy!

Do they like sports, gymnastics, science, ballet, dinosaurs, cars, horses, coding, history, etc.

TIP 1: Find out what makes your children tick and then scatter some books on those topics on a table (๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ) and see if they don’t pick them up on their own!

TIP 2: Pay attention to the ๐˜๐˜†๐—ฝ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€ your children enjoy.

Do they prefer:

  • Chapter books
  • Graphic novels
  • Fiction
  • Nonfiction
  • Hardback
  • Paperback
  • Audiobooks
  • Digital books

My oldest daughter prefers a hardback book to a paperback. She likes the feel of it and it keeps it from getting bent (a pet peeve of hers).

Enjoy Reading

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜’๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€?

Where can you find good books your kids will love?

Usborne Books and More is a great resource! Families have been using them for over 30 years and I have personally been using them for the last 16 years while homeschooling.

Peter Usborne developed a new generation of books that prove that it is possible to create books that ๐—ฐ๐—ผntend with the overwhelming media that children are so attracted to today.

From engaging activity books, to exciting fiction series, to internet-linked history and science encyclopedias, ๐—จ๐˜€๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.

For more than 25 years, Kane Miller has published award-winning children’s books from around the world. They bring to life fantastic ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ and for the younger readers wonderful ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—น๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€.

All of these are stories that will bring a tear to your eyes as they make you think, smile, laugh, or cry.

The combination of Usborne and Kane Miller books allows Usborne Books & More to offer you one of the most original and creative book lines in the U.S.

I’ve put together a ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€ from Usborne Books and More that meet the criteria for the tips I’ve listed in this article. Check it out and see what books your child would like.

You can also check out what other books they have from their full site.

Good resource for books

If you’d like some ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€, message me and tell me about your readers. List their ages and interests and I will prepare a customized wish list JUST FOR YOU! This may give you some ideas of books that they will LOVE!

Recommendations for books

Join My VIP Group

If you’ve enjoyed learning these tips to help your child enjoy reading, Iโ€™d love to invite you to join my VIP reading group called The Book Patch. I offer FUN book ideas, giveaways, sales and more on award winning books for ages 0-18! Whether we’re reading to our kids or they’re reading on their own, it’s important to have a wide array of good quality books to choose from. Hope to see you in there!

Hi Iโ€™m Heidi. Iโ€™m a former teacher turned homeschool mom of three. Iโ€™ve homeschooled from the beginning and my oldest is graduated now. I believe your home doesnโ€™t have to be chaotic just because you homeschool. When you join The Unexpected Homeschoolerโ€™s community, youโ€™ll learn how to have a more organized, efficient, and productive homeschool, and Iโ€™ll send you this Daily Assignment Sheet tool as a gift to teach your students to work independently and free up your time.

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