tips on encouraging kids to read (2 boys reading) - Bubbablue and me
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Encourage children to read with these top reading tips

Reading ability is such a key skill for children to enable them to progress well at school, it’s no wonder many parents worry about how their children are doing.  I previously shared a comparison of the different reading levels and schemes.  But if your child doesn’t want to read (home or school books, or anything), it can be worrying.  There are things you can do to help encourage children to read.

In our house we’ve gone through ups and downs with N’s reading. He loves books – bedtime is one of his favourite times to get me to read a book. But I’ve obviously done too good a job because while he’ll happily have stories read to him, it’s hard to get him to read his own books.

tips on encouraging kids to read (2 boys reading) - Bubbablue and me

Thankfully he will read school reading books – we have had struggles with those as well.  I find he goes through phases where occasionally he’ll blitz 2 whole books in one evening, then will argue about reading more than a page on other nights.  As for weekends or holidays. Occasionally he’ll read some on the first day of the holidays and finish the book on the last day, but there’s nothing in between.

I do find it noticeable when he’s not read for a while that he goes back to sounding out and blending words he already knows, but that doesn’t translate to him realising it would only take 10 minutes a day to keep the standard up.

With him on target for his reading, and currently working his way through level 8/purple books (our school ready across different book schemes with Oxford Reading Tree as the main focus), I’m always trying new things to help try and get him to focus and do his reading without too many complaints.

Reading tips for encouraging children to read

1, Make all sorts of books and other reading material readily available around the house.

2, Read books yourself, so your children see it as normal

3, Make reading part of the day with story time – it’s a great opportunity to talk to your child about what you’re reading and good 121 time.

4, Especially if they’re a boy, get a male to read to them. This doesn’t happen in our house because the OH won’t read, so when my brother comes over at bedtime, I send him up to read to N instead. It’s scientifically proven that boys who have males involved with reading to them or listening to them read, struggle more with reading.

5, Encourage reading of other materials not just books. Signs, menus, board games. We find anything that is providing a solution or a reminder is something that N will want to read.

6, Have a regular time of day to do any school reading. Make it a habitual routine if they’re not keen on reading school books.

7, Have a reward scheme. Yes it’s not the best, but if you have a really clear aim and goal for them to get a sticker, it can work to encourage them.

8, Mix up how you do the set school reading. Maybe they have to do 15 minutes a day.  If ‘read a number of pages’ is putting your child off, give them a challenge on how much they can read against a timer (I never use a timer, I just stretch the truth on how much time there is left).

9, Plan in fun activities afterwards, eg no electronics until some reading has been done.

10, Mix up who they’re reading to.  N gets really excited when he gets to read to other family members.

11, If they struggle with confidence, don’t correct them as they’re going. Or just repeat the word after they’ve said it without forcing them to say it correctly again. It will sink in through the book.

12, Let them read where is comfortable (for you both).  I draw the line at the sofa because the angles aren’t comfortable for me to sit alongside, hold the book and look.  But find where works for your child.

13, If they want to read alone when they’re meant to read with an adult for homework, let them.  Just ask them to read loud enough for you to hear, and then ask them questions about what they’ve read afterwards so you can be sure they did actually read it.  They might find it’s less hassle and quicker to just let you listen with them in the first place.

14, Make up sounds effects for the story as they’re reading it.  It can help bring a book to life.

15, Give them the book choice. If they really won’t read a certain book that school have sent home, then ask the school if they can send 2 home so the child has a choice. N hated reading a comic book, and there’ve been a couple of books he’s absolutely refused to read, and the school have switched them. Luckily we get 2 books home at a time.

reading book comic book

I also asked some other bloggers for their tips to encourage children to read.

Jodie from Maidenhead Mum said ‘I found that my daughter was getting bored with the supplied books at her level and so they switched her to the non-fiction books instead. She had an amazing one about Space that she loved reading. So my tip would be that if Biff, Chip and Kipper aren’t rocking your child’s boat, chat to their teacher. Reading should be fun and inspiring, it’s not always just about pushing up to the next reading level’.

Becky from Baby Budgeting said ‘My two got so bored of the same characters in each book so I made sure we went to the library regularly to mix it up and keep reading fresh and interesting’

Carol from Virtually Allsorts told me ‘our 8 year old has always been a good reader and clearly gets bored with ‘having’ to read the school’s library books. She’s been moved up a level just this week in fact and I’m glad her teacher saw sense in that. At home, she reads older books than were on her old level at school – Harry Potter and The Worst Witch are current faves. Our children need to be encouraged to read according to their abilities and not held back in order to keep their passion for reading alive.

I’d agree with all of these.

On reading school books, remember the school do have reasons for why they teach reading the way they do.  If your child really hates reading, speak to the teacher and see if there’s anything they can help with.  Don’t always push to move up too quickly unless your child is enjoying higher level books at home (I know someone who’s daughter could read when she started school and was put as a free reader straight away, but it meant she was choosing books that she could read, but couldn’t understand). Comprehension is still important as well as the reading.

Do your children love to read?  What reading tips would you add for encouraging children to read?

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15 Comments

  1. Excellent tips. We’re not quite at the reading stage yet, with Luke being in year R, but we do encourage reading of signs and writing signs too when we’re playing. I didn’t know that about having a male read to boys, but I suppose that does make sense! Time to get the OH doing bed time stories! #SharingTheBlogLove

    1. I don’t know what it is about men not doing reading. My OH just doesn’t have confidence in his reading, but he should make more effort. N does read to my brother when he’s over though.

  2. Great advice. We have plenty of books around the house, and loads of children’s book. It’s just that Isabelle is at the stage where she’d rather chew a book than read one! Haha

  3. There’s something really special about sharing books with your children. I loved reading with the Tubblet when she was small 🙂

  4. This is really topical for me right now. Whilst Alice loves to read and I don’t have any trouble getting her to read. It’s taking a while for it to all click into place for her. I know they all get there eventually, but she is getting frustrated that she can’t just read! Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove

    1. Ah, it is hard for them. Them wanting to read is the hardest part. It will click. N’s reception year was painful, and then it goes in phases on how he gets on.

  5. These are great tips – I’m bookmarking this post as I suspect we may have trouble with Max. Over the years he’s warmed up to books, and now does love to have a story read to him, but I feel that’s more about delaying bedtime than enjoying the story – sometimes his attention is definitely lacking! He’s only just starting letters and phonics and numbers, but so far the numbers are going really well but I don’t think the letters are clicking with him so far. I’m hoping he just takes a little while to warm up to it all – he can often take a bit more time to accept something new. Thanks for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove

  6. These are good tips to help with encouraging children to read. We’ve been quite lucky so far as Jessica enjoys reading but we do have a routine of reading her school book at a similar time of day each day which I think helps. I like the idea of asking for 2 books to give your child a choice if they don’t like certain books. I think at Jessica’s school, they encourage the children to choose which book they want from their reading level which helps with that. #sharingthebloglove

  7. My eldest started school in September and is not interested in reading. She loves being read to but it’s a real struggle to get her to sound out words in the books she is supposed to read. I’m glad she enjoys books at least. She’s only 4 so I still think she’s really young to be forcing to read. What a shame your OH won’t read with your son. #sharingthebloglove

    1. He doesn’t read full stop really apart from farming magazines. He’s certainly not confident in helping N read which is part of the problem.

  8. Our little man started school in September last year and so has not long started to read but he has come on leaps and bounds in such a short space of time. It’s fascinating how their little brains are like sponges. These are some lovely tips, thank you! #sharingthebloglove

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