- Let them build their own book collection. In this day and age, the best gift you can give your small one is a book. Make sure their books are in a place in their rooms that pop to capture their attention. It’s key to make their library grow more and more, making them perceive their collection as a treasure.
- Make sure they make contact with books from an early age. The best approach is to offer them books when they are babies so they’ll touch and play with them. There are many books designed to stimulate the perceptions of the smaller ones, like “The Time Spaceship” from us at Materlu. Furthermore, we have plenty of interactive titles that make reading for kids a cinch. Our goal is to make books a staple of children’s daily life.
- Establish reading as a reward. When they behave well, buy them a new book and, of course, ground them without books when they don’t. This will make them see books as something valuable. Although this may look like some sort of emotional manipulation, it’s all done to properly adjust their behaviour.
- Read with them. We need to strive for daily reading with them before we expect them to read by themselves. This way, they’ll discover all the fascinating stories hiding behind those pages. The best time to do this is at bedtime since it’s easy to incorporate into their daily routine.
- Try to visit the library as much as possible. In winter, when it’s cold outside, instead of staying coop at home, you can go together to the library and have a good time reading. In this day and age, libraries have unique areas for the younger ones where they’ll get to browse and discover new books full of fascinating adventures that will keep them hooked.
- Let them choose. As long as it’s age-appropriate, let them pick the book they’d like to read. If they feel like they have the freedom to choose what they want, they’ll want to read more.
- Never force them to read. If they perceive reading as a chore, they’ll resent the activity and won’t engage with it. Furthermore, always check the age rating for the books they pick from school.
- Wide the range of books they read. When kids learn how to read, they want to show off. Let them! Whether it’s a brochure from the supermarket, the nutritional values of a chocolate bar or a newspaper, we need to cheer them to read everything — this is how they’ll get practice for more challenging texts.
