Fun, Simple Ways to Incorporate Reading into a Day
by Julie Halley
September 02, 2010
School has begun so it is time to get your student back into the routine of school and the activities that accompany it. Since reading is one of the most important skills a school-age child can learn, it is very important that your student begin reading to practice this skill. After all, practice makes perfect. In order to become a better reader, your student needs to practice reading everyday. I often challenge my students to "name one job on Earth that a person can do without reading." So far, in more than six years, we have not found one job someone can do without using their ability to read.
The challenge is in finding fun ways to incorporate reading into your day. Here are just a few ways I thought of to help you and your reader incorporate reading into your day in fun ways:
- Allow your child to write a friendly letter to a family member in another town describing the child's new grade, teacher, activities, etc.
- Have your student read the local newspaper articles about PC R-1. He/she may know someone in the article.
- When attending extra-curricular activities, have your child read the program of names, numbers, job titles, etc.
- Allow your child to read notes sent home from school to you.
- Stick short notes in your child's lunch or backpack with a message from you. I have often done this and my child would bring it back home in order to read it to me to see if he had read it correctly at school.
- Subscribe to an age-appropriate magazine that would be of interest to your child.
- Make your child read instructional manuals to new games or toys.
- Help your child choose a book to read that has also been made into a movie. After your child has read the book, watch the movie together to find the similarities and differences between the book and the movie.
These are just a few ideas to use with your child. As a parent of a former struggling reader, I know how hard it can be to motivate a child to read. The movie trick really worked with my own child. The most important influence in your child's journey to become a fluent reader is YOU! When you take an active part in the reading process with your child, your student will understand how important it is to learn to read.
