by Read Aloud Dad
We must clear up something from the very start.
Some kids will never love to read and it is useless to try to force them to love it.
We may try to plead with them, we may try to coax them, we can even threaten to starve them of Minecraft – still no one can force kids to love reading.
In fact, the best way to make a kid dislike reading is to continuously force individual books and magazines (that we want them to read) down their throats.
Yeah, like that is going to do the trick.
No way.
A parent’s motto should be to provide children with choice, choice, and then with even more choice of reading material.
Instead of choosing a book or magazine for your kids to read, provide them with two or three or fifteen.
Go crazy.
Go into the hundreds.
And then go more.
Flower Power
Let me rewind the clock back nine years ago, when my twins (girl and boy) were born.
Slowly as the months passed by, I came to realize that one of the most important tasks ahead of me was to help my kids fall in love with reading.
Like many other things in life, easy does it.
We must keep in mind that the true task of us as parents is not to ensure that a child learns to read well.
Correct reading is simple mechanics for most kids. They will get the hang of it.
But, do we just want them to lay a row of words down and then another, mechanically?
Is our goal to help them become bricklayers with words or a virtuoso of reading?
Do we want to have an orchid that grows … but ultimately does not flower?
No, no, no.
We must help our little orchids to bloom.
But it is not always easy.
The only way that kids can fall in love is if they are exposed to good books, quality magazines, and fun reading.
Remember, children are the pinnacle of evolution of life on our planet.
They are the newest, best, and most advanced creatures … ever to walk on this planet.
Let us treat them with the respect they deserve.
Our task is to provide the right environment, by reading to them every day and surrounding them with easily accessible, high quality reading materials.
Build a Reading Empire
Love for reading grows like a delicate rainforest orchid from the tropics.
You cannot force an orchid to grow or flower, you just need to provide an environment without extremes and then orchids do the rest by themselves.
I knew that my kids would grow up with a love of reading if they were offered around-the-clock easy access to a wide choice of reading materials, topics, book formats, magazines… you name it.
Yep, easy, all-day access is the key.
I knew that if my kids did not handle books, throw books, leaf through books, read and re-read them early on in life, we would face an uphill battle later on.
Like Genghis Khan in a battle, start the fight against illiteracy by overwhelming the enemy.
Winning by numbers is part of Genghis Khan’s recipe for success.
Add books to your library, add magazines – build up your reading civilization at home.
We also need to take another page from Genghis Khan’s book.
Genghis Khan used to lead his troops into battle.
That is why we need to enter the reading ecosystem ourselves.
Instinctively I felt that if I grew to love children’s books and immersed myself in that world, that would be much better than worrying about the future of my children.
We must learn to stop worrying about our kids’ reading.
Instead, it is better to start loving children’s books together with our daughters and sons.
Celebrate your love of children’s books by reading together with them.
It requires no sacrifice on our part.
The best literature in the world is children’s literature.
It is a win-win situation for everyone
Let put this winning battle plan into action!
Read Aloud Dad is a Dad who is simply reading the best children’s books to his twins. Intrigued? Find out more about him by visiting his website, Read Aloud Dad.
