Reading is both a hobby and a way to spend your leisure time, and an inexhaustible source of useful information and knowledge about the world.
There was a wonderful tradition of family reading, when not only literacy, language and writing were taught, but also the art of reading. Along with knowledge of science and technology, it is no less important to know and love poetry, to cultivate one’s feelings, worrying about the heroes of favorite books. It is the book and the library that can become a connecting link in the spiritual unity of a child and his family.
It is not so easy to get modern children interested in reading books, as they grow up in the age of gadgets and the Internet. To encourage a child to read, first of all, you need to honestly answer the question: “Do you read yourself?” A child cannot have good associations with literature if you force them to read a book, but you do not read yourself.
In order for your child to love reading, you need to lead an active literary life together: you must be active readers, have a reading culture at the level of bookshelves at home, go to bookstores, to presentations of modern Ukrainian authors.
There are various reasons why a child does not want to read: reading is boring, the child does not have time for it, reading is difficult, reading is not entertainment.
A child can be motivated to read in several ways.
- First of all, you need to pay attention to the topics that interest the child and offer him appropriate literature. Place books, magazines, and catalogs in prominent places around the house.
- Read for yourself, because your child should see that it brings you pleasure. Talk about interesting moments of what you read in an informal atmosphere.
- Motivate your child by reading together in roles, discussing what you have read, establishing a connection between the work and life, organizing reading parties of funny books with your children, creating your own books, drawing or sculpting characters, writing short stories about them.
- Support your child’s interest: for the holidays, give your child books from their field of interest, introduce them to new children’s writers.
- Avoid lectures about the benefits of reading and do not torment a child who does not want to read.
- Do not criticize your child’s choice. It is better to read anything than nothing, even if your child chooses a book that you think is too easy. Respect his decision.
- Don’t make reading too important. This puts pressure on the child, and he will read for you, not for his own pleasure, or he will refuse the book altogether.
- Do not divide books into “good” and “bad”. You should definitely not impose your opinions about books on a young reader.
Therefore, reading together is one of the most important developmental activities that you can do with your children. This will help the little ones learn more complex language and gain new knowledge. And non-verbal interactions, such as parental warmth and the child’s enthusiasm, will stimulate interest in reading, the ability to express their own thoughts.
