How to help your children read more

and to pick up a love of reading

www.fridayschildmontessori.com

Children learn by observing, which is one of the basic tenets of

Montessori learning

so one of the first things you can do is to do some reading yourself.

If your children never see you reading anything (apart from your Facebook page) then they

might get the idea that reading is work and isn’t really relevant.

It doesn’t really matter what you read – glossy magazines, newspapers, cookbooks,

instruction manuals and Mills & Boon romances might not be

great literature

but if you read these for fun in your leisure time, you’re showing children that reading is something

that adults do for fun – which means that they are more likely

to have a go themselves.

The next thing that you should do to help your children learn to love reading and books is to read to

them.

Don’t just limit yourself to alphabet books where you point out letters and make the sounds

and the more obviously educational books.

These are certainly helpful for children learning to read but you

need to read more than these books so that children get an idea of the end goal of reading: having

fun and gaining new information.

Bedtime stories are great tradition but there are other times that you can read with

your children.

Having a child sitting beside you or on your knee while you share a

picture book is great “snuggle time” and can be a good way for

you to unwind.

After a day of serious business meetings, sales talks and the like, being silly with a picture book can be a good way to put the heavy-

duty stuff behind you.

Go for something that requires sound effects from the parent –

there’s nothing like providing the right noises for “Hairy Maclary’s Caterwaul Caper” or “Walter the Farting Dog” to push that difficult

meeting with the assistant manager into the back of your

mind.

Some parents wonder about favourite books and whether it is really extending a child if they want the same book over and

over again.

If your child recites the words of a favourite story with you or fills in

a missing sentence, is this an example of rote learning and will it be detrimental to their ability to learn to read using phonics?

Don’t worry. A little rote learning, especially if it’s fun,

never hurt anybody and learning most or all of “The Wonky

Donkey” by heart helps your child to improve their memory skills

(and their vocabulary).

If you’re in the mood for it, try changing a word or two to

provoke a reaction from your children as they correct you in

half-hilarious outrage.

To promote a love of reading, you should have books available in the

house. In best Montessori principle, you should have a

designated spot for these books.

Bookshelves can be a bit hard for smaller hands to cope with,

especially if the books are wedged in fairly tightly – this is a recipe for ripping a soft-cover picture

book.

solution could be a book chest or a cupboard that is easier to get

things into and out of. You don’t have to spend a fortune to collect

a good selection of good books.

It’s amazing what turns up in the bargain bins at K-Mart, at school fairs and similar, at garage sales

and even at the library.

And you should also become members at the local library as soon as possible, if you aren’t

signed up already.

first card a child should own is a library card, although you’ll have to be the one to keep it until they get a bit more responsible and are

less likely to lose it (which is probably until they are old enough to go to t

he library solo).

library visits a regular fun outing. They are a great way to try out new titles – if something turns out to be not quite your cup of tea, then back it goes to the

library.

Have a separate place for library books as opposed to your books so you don’t lose a library book in your book collection or return that copy of Winnie The Pooh

that Grandma gave your child for Christmas to the

library by mistake.

Also keep the printout of what you’ve taken out on the fridge or stapled into your diary or on the

calendar so you know exactly what you’ve taken out – there’s always one book under the bed

that runs the risk of being overlooked.

More Montessori Education topics at

www.fridayschildmontessori.com