Start early in encouraging children to read

“Dear Dr. LeCrone: I am a third grade teacher in New Orleans and saw a column that you wrote several years ago on helping children learn to love reading. Could you re-run this column since school is starting soon and reading is so important in the child’s education?”

Yes, I hope this information will inspire parents to become involved in their child’s learning to read.

• Serve as a good model for your child. How much time do you as parents spend reading in the presence of your child vs. watching television, talking on the phone etc.
• Start reading to your child in his infancy. Snuggle up at bedtime with a good children’s story, pick out a time right after the child awakens from a nap and read a story while he’s fresh and alert. Don’t read too long, and notice for signs of restlessness and diminishing interest. Parents can increase the child’s attention span and interest in reading by gradually increasing the amount of time spent reading to the child.
• When your child is old enough to read, let them read to you. Grandparents can also be excellent listeners and encourage the child’s reading skills.
• Take your child to bookstores and explore the children’s section. Have reading parties for your child, in which other children are invited to hear someone dressed as a storybook character read a book. Someone dressed as a clown can read a circus story; a make-believe ranch hand can read a story about horses, and a look-alike pirate can make a Robert Louis Stephenson story come alive.
• Take your children to the library and get their own library card as early as possible. Many libraries have special programs to encourage young readers to develop their reading skills.
• Teach your child to respect books by keeping them on a shelf instead of on the floor, under the bed or in a toy box.
• Begin to develop your child’s writing skills by encouraging him to write short stories and then bind them in a homemade book to share with friends and family.
• Be patient and willing to explain words that your child may not understand. This helps build vocabulary skills and helps the child develop a love for learning about what new words mean. Respect the child’s personal preferences and allow her to make choices about the books the child wants to read.
• Give books as gifts and encourage the child to buy books for his siblings and family when special occasions occur.
• Encourage your child to sharpen her skills in visual imagery by closing her eyes and telling you how the characters feel. What a soft bunny fur feels like to the touch, how the soft grass feels beneath her feet, etc.

Give your child one of the greatest most valuable gifts in life, the love of reading.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 2001