To encourage children to read more frequently, many schools are setting children reading challenges. This offers children the chance to win a prize if they manage to read every day for a month and have their sheet signed by their parent or carer. If your school hasn’t implemented it, it’s a great way of encouraging your child to read more and can easily be done at home. Here’s how.
Make it techie
Chances are if it comes in an app your child is far more likely to engage with it. A quick search on iTunes or Playstore will bring up free reading challenge apps that you can download onto your child’s device, or even better yours. Reading on a tablet or phone is still reading and if it means they read, go for it.
Reward charts
Oh, the joy of a gold star, the universal sign of achievement. But stickers don’t have to be stars, there are hundreds of amazing stickers available in stores and supermarkets that children will love. Let them choose their stickers and include really big ones for the final day of each week to make it extra special.
If your children like crafts, then let them help you make the chart. A good way of making sure this lasts longer than if you use a piece of paper is to use a whiteboard. Get a large enough whiteboard and then draw out the days with a whiteboard pen. This means edits are easily made and it will last for as long as you need it. Then, decorate the frame.
Pick good books
There are amazing books for children, from the classics of Winnie the Pooh or The Secret Garden through to Disney stories and those written by well known celebrities.
Whatever your child is interested in, there will be a book on the subject. Even if they love gaming you can still find books about that game or how video games are made.
It doesn’t matter what your child is reading, it just matters that they read actual words on paper (or digital ‘paper’) and absorb them. The simple act of looking at words will in turn help with their spelling, word recognition and vocabulary.
The library is a great source of new books and of course, it’s free. Charity shops also offer great book bundle packs. If you’re part of a group or have friends with children, why not initiate a weekly book swap where every week your child brings a book to swap meaning they always have at least one new book a week to read?
Whatever form it comes in, reading is reading and it’s one of the more useful things your child can do. A love of reading will carry them through their entire education and into adulthood.
