If you follow along on Instagram, you already know that I have two voracious readers at home. These girls just cannot get enough of books, so much so that they read *unprompted* for hours each day. Literal hours! So I finally wrote up my tips for raising readers and how to cultivate a love of reading that will last a lifetime. And that’s not an empty promise — many of these tips are things MY mom also did, and that’s how I know it creates a lifelong bookworm: I am one. So here we go:
Read a lot in your free time. YOU! The adult! Read a book! Read lots of books! Every chance you get, but ESPECIALLY when your kids are around.
Don’t force it. But also, don’t have too many other activities available. They’re bored? Oh, check out that pile of books!
Read out loud to your kids every single day. Cuddled on the couch. At the dining room table. As you’re tucking them in at night.
Make the library your second home. Go to all of the free events for kids. Read books there. Take books home to read later. Piles and piles of books. And let your kids get their own library cards.
Buy the books they love. They’ll read them over and over again.
Bring books with you. In the car, to sit in a waiting room, everywhere.
Let them stay up later if they’re reading. Lights go out at 8pm, unless you want to stay up till 9 with a book.
Remember that ALL reading counts. Graphic novels, Disney books, fiction, nonfiction, magazines, comic books, newspapers. Just try to avoid the tabloid headlines in the checkout at the grocery store…
What about how to teach your kids to read in the first place? Or what books we recommend? Check these other posts:
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