Today is the first day of school sorry I mean the Back to School Book Blogger Challenge hosted by Rachel @ Parajunkee. Classes (I mean the challenge) takes place over the course of nine days. And you can see the lesson plan below to learn more about what we will be learning / teaching on each day.
What I think will foster the love of reading in kids
I think encouragement to read will definitely help foster the love of reading. Parents should encourage their child to read in any way they can. Whether it’s making reading a family affair by reading out loud or having read alongs or just taking the child to the library multiple times.
I think it’s also important that parents let kids read the books they want to read (for the most part). I’m not saying they should be allowed to read adult fiction at 6 years of age. What I’m saying is that parents should not deny a child a book because they think the book is too easy or too hard or too stupid. When I was a kid, my mom let me pick any book I wanted when we were at the library, as long as it wasn’t inappropriate for my age. Sure, she made sure I stuck to the juvenile section, but she didn’t restrict my picks for being to easy or difficult, nor did she assign books for me to read in a “you have to read this or else” manner. Okay, yeah she nudged me towards certain books, but for the most part I was free to read what I wanted. The point is that as a kid, I was able to read books that I liked and thus the ones I enjoyed the most. When I was at the library a few weeks ago, I saw a father who only let his kid take home the kid version of classics, which the kid was obviously unhappy about – the kid didn’t even want to go to the library. Forcing kids to read a huge amount of books they don’t like makes them resent reading and books in general. It becomes a chore, not a pleasure, like I think it should be.
What do you think about my advice?
Am I approaching it in a totally wrong manner?
You’re absolutely right, it’s important not to force kids to read books they don’t want to.
That’s really good advice and I totally agree with you! Especially about letting the child pick their own books, that’s even better. 🙂
Back To School
Whitney@Shooting Stars Reviews
I agree with you so much. Dictating what a child’s reading habits will be like is the sure-fire way to get them to hate reading altogether.
I agree you can push a child towards certain books but in the end you have to make them make the choice..