10 Ways to Encourage a Love of Reading

Research suggests that reading for pleasure is also directly linked to academic attainment. Evidence shows that children who read books often at age 10, and more than once a week at age 16, gain higher results in maths, vocabulary and spelling tests at age 16 than those who read less regularly.

So how can we encourage children to love reading? Here are 10 ideas to help . . .

Make it recognisable

Its difficult to relate to something that you have never seen or experienced – children have wonderful imaginations but they need something to work with. Connect the story to real life. For example, if you have read (or are about to read) a story about a forest or a farm animal, go to visit one. Discuss the book on your visit, you could even take it with you. Or when you’re reading the book at home later, talk about your visit and how it relates to the story.

Tap into things they enjoy

Try reading material that incorporates your child’s interests. It doesn’t always have to be a story book, a factual autobiography or a children's news magazine might interest them more. Visit the library or a local bookshop to let them see the huge variety of options available and allow them to choose what they think looks interesting.

Ask questions about the story

The simplest way to engage children in their reading is to ask questions, and encourage them to ask you questions too. You could ask:

• What’s happening?
• What do you think is going to happen next?
• Why do you think that character did that?
• What do you think that character is thinking?
• Are there any words you don’t understand? What do you think this word means? Explain it.
• What’s your favourite bit of the book and why?
• Who is your favourite character and why?

Don't always correct mistakes

Lots of stopping and starting will take the joy out of a story and can knock children’s confidence so be careful about picking up on every little mistake. Quite often a child will realise if something doesn’t make sense and go back to correct it themselves anyway. You can always go back to review words at a natural break.

Make reading a reward

Make sure reading is seen as a positive experience and books are treats. Give lots of praise for their hard work and perseverance. You could consider a reward chart for pages or whole books read building up to a new book.

Little and often

Reading is hard work and a child’s attention span is fairly short so take your cue from them when they’ve had enough. Being forced to concentrate for too long will take the enjoyment right out of it.

Make it interactive

For instance:

• Take it in turns to read a sentence or a page.
• Can they catch you out when you replace a random word?
• Make it the listener’s job to add sound effects for the reader e.g. footsteps, closing doors.
• Use silly voices, make them laugh. If they hear different tones and voices when being read to, they’ll start using intonations when reading in their head too.

Mix it up

Offer lots of choice and different ways to connect with reading material. Listening to audio books encourages their imagination – you could give them the book to follow along with. Let them explore different genres and authors. Ask what their friends enjoying reading? Ask for recommendations from other parents and their teachers.

Read yourself 

You may well have stopped reading much yourself, but your attempts at encouraging your child to love reading might be thwarted if they don’t see that you love reading too. Be a reading role model – try to find time to enjoy reading in front of them – magazines, the newspaper and recipe books all count! 

Make reading part of everyday life

Don’t make reading into a big thing! Build it into your everyday routine. Actively talk about books every day and ask what things they’ve been reading about. Ensure books are easy to access and always carry a book with you. Get children involved in reading the recipe for dinner or the instructions for your board game – it’s all experience and adds to their confidence.