How To Get Your Child To Love Reading

I have an early reader whom I am very proud of.   I do not know exactly how she learnt to read but I believe that our habit of daily reading since she was a baby definitely helped.   Here, in retrospect, I share the activities I believe contributed to her reading success.

• Start reading young.  Introduce books to the babies just like you introduce toys and they will love books as much as they love toys.


• Choose interactive books.  Interactive books can help to attract their attention.  I have recommended some books which my baby liked in my previous post.


• Be dramatic when you read.  Incorporate actions when you read.  For example, when I read The Three Little Pigs to my girl, I will always do an exaggerated blowing action when I come to the part where the wolf was huffing and puffing.  One day, my mom took the book and started telling my girl the story in Mandarin.  When she came to the huffing and puffing page, my girl (who was then probably 8-9 months old) started blowing!  My mom got a shock.  My girl actually recognised the content of the story book and could "tell" the story even though she could not talk!


• Run your finger under the word when you read.  That way, the child can relate your spoken word to the written word.


• Read environment prints to her.  An usual trip to the supermarket or mall or restaurant can be very educational.  You can highlight to the child shop/restaurant names, signages, words in menus etc.  This helps to expose her to words which are all around us.  My girl's first sign of reading was by reading "Exit" signs whenever she sees them.  Initially we thought she was just recognising the sign, but soon after, we realised she could read books. 


• Leave little messages to your child for him/her to read.  I liked leaving short messages to my girl on her doodle board for her to read when she wakes up in the morning or when she's home from school. Eg. "Good morning <name>",  "<name> is home from school", "Today is Monday", "<name> loves to go to school".  

I was not taught phonics when I was a child and I am not proficient in it at all.  Therefore I did not teach my child to read via phonics.  It could be another useful method, I am sure.   Regardless, making reading fun and doing it often definitely would help make reading a breeze!  

Once my child started reading, I began to look for good books for her to read.  That's when I found that finding good books for young readers can be such a challenge!  I'll do a post on some recommendations later.   In the meantime, you can browse The Book Depository which carries a much wider selection than the bookstores here plus free shipping!!