Research shows that reading can improve vocabulary, social skills and . It can reduce stress and the rate of cognitive decline 鈥� plus, it鈥檚 fun.
But how do you get a child to love it?
Pamela Paul, editor of The New York Times Book Review, shares some tips from her latest book, 鈥�.鈥�
Baby bookworm
You don鈥檛 need to wait until your kids can read to get them hooked on reading. Paul said babies 鈥渃an get a lot鈥� from reading, including physical contact and bonding time.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e just getting that emotional connection with their parents. They鈥檙e seeing that this is something that you鈥檙e choosing to do. It becomes a ritual; it becomes pleasurable 鈥� it helps create a habit,鈥� Paul said.
Plus, books can be used for more than their intended purpose. Little ones can develop fine-motor skills with board books that have flaps and pop-ups. Some books can be colored in; others are designed to go in the bathtub.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a toy to them, too,鈥� Paul said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of child development expertise that has gone into publishing children鈥檚 books in recent years that recognizes that babies 鈥榬ead鈥� books in different ways.鈥�
Reading shouldn鈥檛 be rewarded
It may sound counterintuitive, but Paul cautions parents not to reward their children for reading, no matter how badly you want them to crack open a book.
鈥淭hat actually teaches kids something else,鈥� she said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a really important difference between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. If you鈥檙e doing something because you鈥檙e going to get a prize or you鈥檙e going to get a reward, you鈥檙e doing that thing to get to an end result.鈥�
Instead, you want a child to read because it鈥檚 something they enjoy, not something you want them to do.
In her house, Paul, a mother of three, treats reading as a privilege. Her kids have a routine bedtime. However, they are allowed to read in bed for 30 minutes beyond that set time.
鈥淪o what does that do? One: It puts the choice in the child鈥檚 hand, gives the child control. The child is making the choice for himself. And then second: Reading is a privilege, staying up late is a privilege. Three: It builds the habit of reading before bedtime, which is a really great way to end your day,鈥� she explained.
If you have a reluctant reader 鈥�
In today鈥檚 digital age, there鈥檚 a lot of competition for one鈥檚 attention 鈥� phones, video games, TV and more. If you notice your tween or teen is more interested in Instagram than 鈥淭he Iliad,鈥� Paul recommends setting some household limits on devices.
鈥淵ou might say, 鈥楢ll devices shut down at 8 p.m.鈥� Now the hard thing for parents is that means you too, because kids are looking at their parents as role models. They see what you鈥檙e doing,鈥� she said.
Also, talk to each other about what you鈥檙e reading.
鈥淟ittle things you can do at the dinner table 鈥� instead of just talking about what Netflix show you鈥檙e all [binge-watching] or what you read online that day 鈥� talk about the book you鈥檙e reading. If they see that you, a grown-up who has so many options and seemingly no limits, is choosing to read, that sends a strong message,鈥� Paul said.
YA is better than ever
Young adult literature (or YA) is better than ever. In fact, the YA genres are so entertaining that even adults are hooked. A found more than half of YA readers are adults.
鈥淭hose authors know what they鈥檙e up against, in terms of the internet and TV and video games, so those books are written to really want to be read and they also get at teenage emotions,鈥� Paul said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 also a way for kids to work out a lot of issues. It鈥檚 sometimes easier to confront something tough in your life 鈥� whether it鈥檚 a social issue or a private/personal issue, body image or gender identity, all kinds of things 鈥� it鈥檚 easier to confront that or even to just understand it if you鈥檙e reading about it though someone else鈥檚 story. So YA is really powerful.鈥�
Her message for parents is to recognize that YA books 鈥渁re not junky,鈥� they鈥檙e good. And providing highly readable books to your tween or teen increases the likelihood that they鈥檒l keep reading.
Every now and then, it鈥檚 also OK to encourage your teen to read a grown-up book 鈥� even if the content is controversial or the concepts are advanced.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 very enticing for a teenager to read something that feels like it鈥檚 beyond their years,鈥� Paul said.
