Tips for Parents

Top tips to help children enjoy reading

To help make reading enjoyable and fun, experts and authors recommend the following:
Make books part of your family life
Always have books around so that you and your children are ready to read whenever theres a chance. Have a book or magazine with you for any time your child has to wait, such as at a doctor’s surgery or during a long car journey.
Join your local library
Get your child a library card. You’ll find the latest videogames, blu-rays and DVDs, plus hundreds of fantastic books!
Match their interests
Help them find the right book – it doesn’t matter if it’s fiction, poetry, comic books or non-fiction.
All reading is good
Dont discount non-fiction, comics, graphic novels, magazines and leaflets. Reading is reading and it is all good!
Get comfortable!
Snuggle up somewhere warm and cosy with your child, either in bed, on a beanbag or on the sofa. Also make sure they have somewhere comfy when reading alone.
Ask questions
To keep them interested in the story, ask your child questions as you read such as, ‘What do you think will happen next?’ or Where did we get to last night? Can you remember what had happened already?
Read again and again
Encourage your child to re-read favourite books and poems. Re-reading helps to build up fluency and confidence.
Bedtime stories
Regularly read with your child at bedtime. Its a great way to end the day and to spend valuable time with your child.
Rhyme and repetition
Books and poems which include rhyme and repetition are great for encouraging children to join in and remember the words.
To watch well-loved childrens authors Michaela Morgan and Christopher Edge talk through their tips on how to read with your child, click here to view the video

Click here for more tips on reading at home with your child.

A Parent’s Little Guide to Helping Children Read