Read with your children.  Have them read to you.  Take turns reading a paragraph each.  Read your own book, while they read theirs.  If you never read, you are sending the message to your child that reading is not important.  Reading is a skill that spans all subjects.  Reading is the cornerstone to a good education.  If you can read you can find any information you need to succeed.  Take the time to instill a love of reading in your children.  Start young and continue into the teen years.

Very young children can begin to become familiar with words by following along while you read them a story.  Just run your finger under the words as you read aloud.  You don’t even need to call attention to your actions.  Your child will naturally follow along with your movement.  Don’t worry if she becomes distracted or seems to be only looking at the pictures.   She is taking everything in.  Just keep following along with your finger.

Talk about letters and the sounds they make.  Give your child sight words to”read.”  The word “I” is a good one to start with.  You read a story and when you come to the word “I” it is her turn to read.  As she gets the hang of it, add other sight words (to, and, if, but, as...) one at a time.  Before long you will be team reading.  Don’t force team reading.  Only team read when your child is interested.  It is important that she does not loose the special treat of being read to.

Let him choose.  When kids choose their own books, they are more engaged.  Younger kids may choose the same book over and over.  This repetition can be difficult for adults, but it is an important developmental process.  Support your child’s desire for reptition by reading familiar books when he asks for them.  Do not try to persuade him  change his mind.

Let young readers choose books to read on their own and out loud.  Reading about subjects that interests them will encourage them to keep reading and they will naturally develop a love for books.

Use the library.  When your child shows interest in something new, go to the library and look for books to learn more about it.  Teach your child how the library works and get to know your librarian.  Let your child choose which books are the most interesting.  If she gets sidetracked and interested in another subject, go with it.  Learning is an adventure.  Let your child discover that learning is  fun, particularly when unrestricted.

Play word games.  There are lots of word games that can become hours of family fun.  Some of our family favorites are: Spill and Spell, Scrabble, Upwords, Smart Mouth, Boggle, Scattegories, and Perquackey.  The more we play with words, the more they become our own.  You can use the Scrabble tiles to make up games of your own. 

Read signs.  Signs are everywhere.  They are a wonderful opportunity to teach the importance of reading.  Signs tell us where to go when we are driving.  Signs label buildings.  Signs tell us what is on sale.  Signs help us find the correct aisle in the grocery store.  We would be lost without signs and now you can use them to enhance your child’s reading skills.  Signs you pass while driving can help your child learn to increase their reading speed.  (Be sure she is ready or you may face frustration and self doubt.)

Let your child see you enjoying reading.  Set aside time for family reading.  Turn off all electronic  gadgets and everyone reads.  Also make time for reading aloud.  No matter how old you are, it is nice to be read to. 

Looking for some book recommendations?  Visit www.NewFamilyPost.org.   Soon you will find a growing list of book reviews.  You can help us get started by providing a book review -- just let us know.  Feel free to add your comments as we add reviews.