Parent Power: Getting Kids to Read, and Liking It

By Karen T. Hartline

         If you have kids, it is simple to rattle off a list of about five or six products you most likely have in your home.  This includes Play Station, X-Box, Nintendo, a computer, Game Boy and, most certainly, a television.  Now, imagine if you will, all of these belongings lined up in a row with one added item: a book.  Which form of entertainment do you think your child would choose?

         According to the TV Turnoff Network, the average child spends more than four hours per day in front of the television.  That is compared to the average 4 minutes a child spends reading for enjoyment per day!  However, before you storm over to the television set and reprimand your children, I should tell you that this is not only about them.  The truth is that the average parent spends thirty hours per week watching television, compared to only two hours per week reading to their children.

        With fierce competition from all forms of media, not to mention busy schedules with lessons in everything from music to sports to yodeling, can these sad statistics really be changed?  How can parents not only get their kids to read, but get their kids to choose to read? 

Establish a Reading Time in your home.  Most likely, the first time your children watched television, they did not turn it on themselves, you did.  Well, now it is you who is going to have to turn it off.  Dedicate 30 minutes per day to reading for enjoyment.  This time is not only for your kids, but also for you and anyone else in the house!  Believe it or not, with all of the people and influences in their lives, you are the one who is going to shape their habits.  So, no matter how busy your life is, establish a time during which there is no computer, no games, no television, only reading.  Of course, there may be some resentment in the beginning.  Talk to your kids about your plan before it happens.  To be really fair, you can work together to decide what time it will happen each night.  It doesn’t have to be the same time every night; life doesn’t work like that!  However, be sure to have a set time for each day of the week. 

Let your children read whatever they want.  Whenever the words “children” and “whatever they want” appear in the same sentence, parents tend to get very nervous.  Having said that, however, it has been said that a child watches an average of 25,000 murders on television by the time he or she is 18.  So why complain if your child wants to read Captain Underpants?  One book that was always out of my classroom library was the Guinness Book of World Records.  Would I ever pick that up?  No.  But my kids were spouting funny facts such as the record length for fingernails and who baked the tallest cake in the world.  Remember, the idea is to get your children to read for enjoyment – their enjoyment.  That means that your daughter might choose to read fashion magazine articles and your son might read sports statistics, or vice versa.  They may have bad taste in your opinion.  But whether it is a comic book or a novel, if they are choosing to read, your mission is accomplished. 

Play instrumental music during reading time.  Children are accustomed to being surrounded by either noisy gadgets or other noisy kids.  Therefore, absolute silence can sometimes be even more of a distraction.  When my students have silent reading time, I play something instrumental, either jazz or classical.  I notice that when I don’t play music, any creak, rattle or movement causes a number of them look around to see where it is coming from.  It is certainly normal and acceptable to become diverted while reading, but I find music tends to coat the mood and minimize these interruptions. 

Visit the library or bookstore regularly.  The library or bookstore should be as normal a destination for your child as the bank or supermarket is for you.  Let your children loose (within reason) to explore everything there is to offer.  While you are there, see what events or groups are available, be it arts and crafts sessions or book clubs for kids.  You may find that they want a few books and that is fine.  However, keep in mind that over-stimulation often adds up to a whole lot of nothing.  Have them look through the books and choose a number within reason.  Note the titles of the one or two they put down so that they have something to look forward to on your next visit.

Discuss the books you read.  If you show interest in what your children are reading, then they will love telling you.  This is reciprocal.  Tell them what you are reading and model fluent recall.  Of course, if you are reading about forensic investigations or the war on terror, you might want to put the information in a kid-friendly way.  Be honest about whether or not you like the book.  They should know that it is okay not to like something.  Knowing one’s own likes and dislikes is an important part of becoming a healthy adult. 

If you are like most families, you are starting from scratch in the process of getting your child to read for enjoyment.  Establishing a routine may seem impossible at first, but think of the sacrifices versus the rewards.   

            “My son used to hate reading,” says one mother.  She and her children had just come from the bookstore and were each toting a full shopping bag.  “I would spend a fortune and he just wouldn’t touch them.  But then I just let him read whatever he wanted and now I can’t keep up.”    

You may have to give up a show you like or wash the dishes a half hour later.  But, to put it in kid terms, so what?