How to cultivate your children’s interest in reading?

How to develop the reading interests of children? How to choose books for your lovely kids? The above questions are what many parents and educators concerned about. In the coming of International Children's Book Day, Xinhua News Agency reporter, Wang Fengfeng, interviewed Tom • Barthelmess, Director of Butler children’s literature, university of Illinois, USA on this concern. He gives us three suggestions as followed.

The first is to let child be his own master.

Barthelmess said that parents or teachers should abandon their own concepts of favorite books and the option should be give back to the children so that they would be interested in books. If books were chosen entirely by parents and teachers, the final result was that children do not love reading. He also explained that this was not to let a child select books without guidance, but to provide them with choices as many as possible and let them choose among these options. Even though books selected by kids could hardly be understood and were rarely suitable for them to read, letting child be the master could help them build interest in reading much better.

The next is that to select reading materials with different literature genres.

Regarding to the selection of children’s reading materials, Mr. Barthelmess held the view that reading materials should not be limited to the novel and poetry, biography and other works of various genres should also be involved. Some books about arts and crafts were of good media for stimulating children's creativity and imagination. Even recipes may also have the same effects. Therefore, as long as the kids like to read, let them read it.

“Do not to despise comic books and magazines”, he also said, “Books can be written as a continuation of reading, which can greatly expand the children's visions and knowledge”.

The final one is to be guided by parents.

The director, Mr. Barthelmess said that cultivating interest in reading among children do not have to determine the specified time. From the birth of a child, parents should read book for the kid, read books with him. Doing so is crucial for his growing and development.

What’s more, kids are clever. If parents tell them that reading is a good habit, they do not read books. Then, kids are more likely to regard that reading is useless. As a result, if parents love reading or your family has the atmosphere of reading, children naturally will love reading.

In addition, every child shows interest in books at different ages, some at very young age, and some at an older age. All in all, do not force them to read.

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