Make Reading a Habit that Sticks

Are you encouraging your children to be good readers? I've been so pleased recently that my son is reading the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. It's ironic, I guess, that my son is inspiring me to be a better reader. When I was his age, I was intimidated by the sheer size of the some of the books he has read. Inspired by his reading them, I finished the third The Lord of The Rings book this summer. It didn't hurt that I enjoyed the movies so much. Great reading.

But I digress. I'm hoping to motivate all of us to encourage our children to read more. The better readers our children are, the better grades they will make, and the better they will succeed at life. It's that simple. Better readers have longer attention spans; they follow directions better; they score higher on tests and struggle less to comprehend what is being taught. Their spelling and grammar improves, and so do their writing skills. It is our challenge as parents to make our homes conducive to reading - to encourage our kids to read.

Here, then, are some ideas from The Parent Institute in Fairfax, Virginia. They compare teaching children to read to building a house: you need a strong foundation and a specific blueprint or plan. Then you will need constant maintenance to keep the house strong and in order.

Here is a checklist to make sure your home encourages your children to read:

1. Limit TV Viewing. The television may be your children's biggest adversary against becoming good readers. Make sure they do not spend every available moment in front of it. It's not an accident that today's children are reading less and weighing more. The TV is the monster in our living rooms and we must tame it. I like to turn off the TV and turn on some jazzy music - soothing and not too loud - then read a good book. I'm hoping my kids will pick up that habit from me.

2. Take your children to the library. This shows them that reading is important to you, and opens a world of reading to them. I like the smell in our library, but usually it's my mom who comes and gets my kids and takes them there. That makes for a special trip for the kids, and they love coming home with new books.

3. Limit after-school activities. Time for sports, videogames, practices and clubs adds up. Make sure there is some time left over for reading.

4. Set a time and place for reading each day. Assign a quiet place, free from distractions, where your children can spend some quiet minutes reading. Consider reading with them if you like. The quietness is a real blessing these days.

5. Be sure to tell your children how proud of their reading skills you are. The secret is to keep reading fun to them. Make sure they have books they are interested in and promote reading as a fun event, not a learning chore. Our attitude means a lot as we sell them on reading.

6. Let them see you read. Your example will encourage them to be better readers. A good start would be letting them see you read this paper today.

7. Make sure there are reading materials around the house: books, magazines, newspapers. Find articles they are interested in and show them to them.

Encourage your children to be the best readers in the state. Let them get lost in stories of adventure in faraway places. Places like London, Paris or Middle Earth. Or maybe even Narnia.

You can contact Craig Harris at www.apparentlyso.net.