Reading Magic: Fun Ideas to Get Kids Excited About Reading
Reading is an important activity every month of the year, but in March, it’s celebrated! March brings us Read Across America Day (March 2nd), as well as National Read Across America Week (March 2nd-6th). These celebrations are aimed to promote and encourage reading, as well as to educate individuals about the benefits of reading.
From stimulating brain development to completing school assignments to responding to work e-mails, reading is an important skill from infancy and into adulthood. Reading provides us with rich language experiences, develops our vocabulary, presents us with perspective-taking opportunities, reduces stress, improves sleep, and boosts creativity. In adulthood, specifically, literacy is an important factor that contributes to social, economic, and academic success (source). Therefore, it’s important to provide a strong foundation in early literacy skills and reinforce positive relationships and routines around reading at an early age.
Below are some ideas and suggestions for developing an individual’s love for reading:
Finding Joy in Reading:
Embrace all types of books! This may include comic books, graphic novels, and/or audiobooks. Follow your child’s passions and interests when selecting books. A librarian may also be able to provide suggestions.
Provide positive reading models. As adults, children look to us often. Show your child that the library is for everyone. Show your child that reading is for everyone. Chances are they’ll be more likely to partake in something that they see you doing vs. something that you tell them to do.
Create a book nook. Help your child create a comfortable and special place for reading. Are there blankets? Pillows? Twinkling lights? Identify this space as their personal reading space.
Incorporate reading into your routine. Identify a specific time of the day that can be utilized for your child to read. Make it consistent. Before bedtime is often a preferred and realistic time for families to read within their day.
View “Encouraging a Summer Reader” from the American Speech Language Hearing Association for additional recommendations.
For many, reading brings comfort and relaxation, community and enjoyment. At Aspire, our staff has worked to embrace our own love for reading. In advance of National Reading Week, we’ve participated in a reading-focused wellness challenge, utilized “little free libraries” within employee spaces, and started a book club using kits from the Madison Public Library.
This week, we’re supporting a book drive through the Madison Reading Project, a great resource that connects young readers in Dane County with free books and literacy resources.
Reading opportunities are everywhere! They are at home, at school, at work, and in the community. I encourage you to utilize March as a way to educate yourself on the importance of lifelong literacy, and to intentionally grow your own (and/or your child’s) love for reading.
As always, if you have any concerns regarding your child’s literacy development, which includes reading and writing, please contact a speech-language pathologist at Aspire to schedule an evaluation.
—
About the author: Alison Polzin, CCC-SLP, is a licensed speech-language pathologist and avid reader at Aspire Therapy.
