During my tenure as a teacher, I taught literature in one form or another to hundreds of students.  When I ran a homeschool group for a number of families, we had a one-room schoolhouse in which I taught reading to students as young as four and as old as sixteen.  When I was a tutor, I worked one-on-one with failing high school students and brought them up three or four grade levels in both reading and math after just a few weeks.  When I taught Middle School, I ran several literature seminars in addition to our daily reading period and weekly book report assignments.  I have worked with nearly every “type” of reader imaginable – the ones who despise it, the ones who refuse it, the ones who do the bare minimum just to get it done, and the ones who immerse themselves in it and love words and stories as deeply as I do.  I made a few mistakes and learned a lot, but best of all, I created hundreds of lifelong readers, and I got to watch that spark ignite when each child realized for the first time how magical reading is.  Those moments were my pay as a teacher.

When I became a mother, I got to experience this phenomenon from an even younger age, and that is when I realized a very important datum – that in actual fact, all education begins with parents.  Even if children do not remember the books you read to them before they were old enough to go to school, they will remember the way it felt to be wrapped in your warmth, snuggled on your lap, listening to your voice and watching your finger point to the illustrations.  They will remember it with fondness and joy, and that will be the beginning.  From there, you and your child’s educators need only nurture and encourage and help.  As long as you have ignited that spark, the world will be open to them, for a child who reads will be an adult who loves to learn, and people who are successful in life never stop learning.

 

 

 

Here are some of my top tips for creating lifelong readers.

 

Read.  Yes, I mean you.  Read for pleasure and read in front of your children.  They will follow your example.  If you spend most of your time on an iPhone and no time reading, guess which one will capture their interest?

 

 

2. Do not give them a phone, tablet, computer or TV to cure their boredom.  In fact, don’t give them one at all.  This is a big one.  The students I had who struggled the most academically had TV and video games in their room and it was on all the time.  The students who struggled emotionally and behaviorally were the ones who spent most of their time on social media.  The ones who were unusually bright, alert, and interested in learning, one for one, were not online, the family rarely watched TV, and they were usually involved in a lot of extracurricular activities.

 

3. Read aloud with them.  You can do this even into adolescence.  Always make it a pleasant, encouraging experience – never, ever ridicule them or force them to read aloud if they don’t want to.  Up until the age of eleven or twelve, I read to my children every single day.  After that, they wanted me to leave them alone to read their chapter books before bed.  I was definitely okay with that (although I do miss it).

 

 

4. When teaching them to read for the first time, I always found it most successful to teach sight words first, then bring in the phonics.  While phonics are vital, I found that trying to teach a child that “A makes Ahhhh” when he doesn’t even know what on earth he needs to know that for, doesn’t go very far.  But if you show a child the word “Apple” under a picture of an apple, and have him practice reading the word until he is familiar with it and the concept it stands for, then it is a lot easier to follow that with the purpose of the symbol that starts the word by representing the sound “Ahhh.”  So I would recommend teaching them about forty or fifty sight words, get them reading short books that contain those words, and they will be exceedingly proud to say they can read.  Then follow that up with phonics, explaining that this is how they will be able to read anything they want, not just the words you teach them.

 

5. Talk about books.  Share interesting stories you’ve read, characters you liked.  Not just in movies, or books that have been adapted into movies, but actual books you have read and loved.  You’d be surprised how much kids love to talk about stories.  Especially high-schoolers!

 

 

 

 

6. Buy them beautiful copies of books.  Although I am a big fan of used books, I would definitely treat my children to a brand-new, leather-bound copy of a book that was particularly special to them or to me.  We still have an illustrated copy of The Secret Garden that has the most beautiful watercolors.  There is a reason Beatrix Potter is so timeless.  Put beauty and affinity into books and your child will fall in love with them.

 

As always, happy reading!

 

-D

 

D.N. Moore is an award-winning author of Young Adult fiction. Her latest novel is a modern science fiction/western titled The Boy Who Learned to Live, now available from all major booksellers.

Her writing has been described as “lyrical,” “vivid,” and “gripping,” and has been praised for its diverse themes, page-turner plots, and relatable characters. She has been compared to Neil Gaiman and Naomi Novik and her work is loved by teens and adults alike.

As a former teacher and a mother, she loves starting and nurturing the reading “bug” in children and young adults.  Her blog offers suggested reading to teens, teachers, and parents, with a focus on quality literature and age-appropriate themes.  She has personally read every single book she recommends.  Sign up for her newsletter here to be notified of new reading lists as they come out.

The post Tips for Creating Lifelong Readers appeared first on D.N. Moore.