Encouraging The Love of Reading

A newspaper article I saw this morning said that Reading test scores had gone down this year in more than half of our states. That seems pretty sad to me, one who loves reading and is always a great proponent of same. Children who score poorly on a reading test are probably ones who never read outside the classroom.

I'm a firm believer in starting to read to your children even when they are infants. It's an introduction to reading at a very early stage. As the child grows, so will their interest in reading. There's little doubt that the mere act of holding a child on your lap or cuddling up close to them will leave a long-lasting warm impression. They'll associate books with love and feeling secure. 

The child goes to school and learns to read on his/her own. No loving parent or grandparent by their side. The older they get, the more books they read in school. Some will be great readers and continue to read outside the classroom. Others are children who read the required amount but have other activities to occupy them after school and on weekends to the point that they don't ever pick up a book and read in free time.

Our society has bought into the speed factor. There is little time so let's do everything as quickly as we can. Zip through Facebook on the cellphone. I see calls for submission for Flash Fiction more and more. Why? It's a fast read for people. We have come to wanting our news in small bits, as well. Everything seems to be in the mode of getting it fast, make it short. Why? Maybe attention spans are shortening as well as the not having time factor.

Books are published on a regular basis, so we know there are readers out there. The problem is that there could, or should, be more readers. That begins with the children who are learning to read today. We want to pique their interest in books in every way we can. Playing games on a computer or phone is far more appealing to some. Who can encourage reading?

Teachers need to foster the love of books and reading. Parents should be doing the same. There are parents who read and ones who do not read for pleasure. I'm guessing that the children of those parents who are readers will become readers themselves. We learn by example. 

We can give books as gifts to children. Or take a child to a bookstore and let him/her pick our a book.

Talk to children about a book you've read and enjoyed. You don't have to tell them the story, just state your pleasure with reading the book. A child's mine might think If Aunt Sally likes to read, then maybe I should try it, too. At least, that is what we hope. We had a much-loved and revered football coach in our town whom every child recognized As I was walking through the library one day, I noted a new poster. It was a good-sized photo of the coach with one word at the top--READ. What a great way to encourage kids to read.

As writers, we need to help kids learn the joy of reading. Make school visits if you write for kids. Encourage your own kids and their friends to be readers. Opportunities present themselves to do this, so take advantage when that happens and do your part in teaching children the love and joy of reading a book.