Welcome to part 6 of our sneek peak posts into Doctor Hammond’s soon to be titled book on raising emotionally healthy children. Today, we’re breaking reading down by age. Let’s dive right in, shall we?
Encouraging a kid to begin reading as soon as possible is a great thing to do, as it builds a love for learning while helping the child to be more imaginative. To understand that children have different reading levels with each age is important because there are things that young children may not grasp as well as that of an older child. For example, a long story with about 20 pages of text is a great read for a nine year old, where that may be too long for a four year old to sit through and follow. Here are some helpful tips on how you may encourage reading at each level:
Infant, from birth to three years old: To begin reading to your child at infancy allows them to see that you enjoy reading because it is a fun thing to do. To take your child to the library where they can see other kids playing and interacting with books is a wonderful way to continue the encouragement of reading as a fun activity. In this stage you will simply be reading to your child and showing them pictures. Reading will likely consist of very small books catered to their age, such as one with just a handful of cardboard pages, with few words and mostly pictures. It is essential at this age that you read with a happy tone and show excitement rather than a forceful and boring way, as this sets the perception of how to feel about reading for the ages to follow.
Preschool, three to five years old: This is the age where you may begin to teach them to read by pointing to a word and/or picture and saying it out loud. To read clearly and show enthusiasm while reading to your child, will encourage them to want to read as well. You could offer the child an incentive, such as a small toy or treat, for reading. Even just letting them choose a book and handing it to you for you to read is perfect at this age.
Kindergarten, five to six years old: This is a critical part of teaching your child to read as this is the age where they focus the beginning of their education on reading and writing. Even though they attend school and are learning to read with teachers and other students, kids learn and take in most of what they know by what their own parents and family members do. To encourage your child to enjoy reading, making it important and a daily routine to include reading a book is a great way for them to see that you like doing it.
Elementary, six to twelve years old: By this time children should enjoy reading on their own and are able to read longer, attention grabbing books as time goes on. Weekly trips to the library, at-home reading time, and games which focus on reading are all great things to do at this age in order to continue the encouragement of reading. If you choose to, you can also give incentives for reading at this age to. For example, a child who reads five books per week gets them a small toy or ice cream. Then, as they get older, let’s say 10 years old, would have to read 40 pages or more of a book per week and be treated to a movie on the weekend as their reward.
It’s imperative that as the child grows up you keep reiterating how rewarding reading can be. With any luck, at some point you won’t even need the incentives anymore because they will have learned to love reading and the stories they consume will be rewarding enough.
Be sure to come back next week as we continue our sneak peaks into Doctor Hammond’s book!