Children who read are among the students who earn top grades in school. Plus, reading is a suitable diversion from today's films, video games, and music that are often violence-heavy and light on critical thinking skills. If you want your kids to read, it doesn’t hurt to help them select good things to fill their minds with.
If your child enjoys reading, you're well on the way to having a good student. But what should he or she read? Are comic books enough? Should you start with Tolstoy? Here are a few suggestions:
1. Poetry. Very young children enjoy listening to, and then repeating, rhyme, verses, and patterns. Get one or more books that include classic rhythms, such as Emily Dickinson's 19th century poems, Shel Silverstein's kids' rhymes, and Dr. Seuss' ongoing legendary rhyming tales. Read aloud good poetry to your children and ask them to recite it with you. They will learn to love language for its own sake and as a medium of communication.
2. Fiction. Choose a few books about your child's hobbies or interests. Does she like horses? How about Black Beauty? Is he interested in science fiction? Why not get an Isaac Asimov tale? For fantasy lovers, try Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. There is something for every taste at the library or bookstore. Pick up short stories, drama, novels, and other genres to introduce your child to several literary forms.
3. Sprinkle in a few classics that you child may pick up without realizing he's supposed to, such as American greats Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne and British authors William Shakespeare and Jane Austen. Any major names from the English or American collection of famous writers will do. Add Aesop's fables and Bible stories to round out your child's exposure to long-lasting works of transcendent value that teach morals about human behavior.
4. Don't forget diversity. Look for age-appropriate books by authors who are female, non-Caucasian (such as Hispanic, Native American, or African American), and non-American (African, Russian, etc.). Expose your child to a rich experience in reading non-traditional works by unfamiliar writers. Not only will they get to read about different cultures and perspectives, they also will begin to understand how people are similar and yet individuals, all of us part of the human experience.
5. Add her own. Encourage your children to write their own books, from story tales to narrative autobiographies about key events in their lives. Have their stories, perhaps illustrated with hand-drawn or painted drawings, bound in construction paper, or take them to a copy center for a more lasting and professional look. Your child will be thrilled to place his or her book on the shelf next to those that have been around for hundreds of years.
Placing quality reading materials in front of your child may help to ensure that she experiences reading as a positive adventure that can offer enlightenment. Model reading for your children and take care in selecting materials that he or she will find interesting, meaningful, and relevant.
