A common phrase that applies to education is capturing "teachable moments". A common tactic by parents is to sneak vegetables into other foods so their kids will eat them. Marry the two concepts in order to find an effective way to encourage reading and writing skills.
Although reading long books and writing long essays have their obvious benefits, it doesn't need to be a grand nor lengthy assignment to garner benefits in the realm of reading and writing. Parents should look for simple places to incorporate reading and writing in order to reap the benefits of teachable moments while at the same time sneaking in these two valuable skills.
BE A GOOD EXAMPLE
Kids are watching and parents are their most valuable role models. It is difficult to portray to kids that reading and writing are important if children do not see Mom and Dad reading and writing. Kids should see parents turning off the television and stepping away from the computer to sit down with a good book or even a print newspaper. Take an undergraduate, graduate or online course to update skills and allow the child to see that Mom and Dad study too. All too often there is a disconnect between the child working on these skills and the parent maintaining these skills. Show the child something that is being written for work, so that the child sees that writing is important in the workplace.
AT THE TABLE/AT THE DESK
Instead of telling a child to go play when working on something to read or write, allow the child to sit at the table or the desk. Provide materials for the child to work on at the same time. There are many great workbooks that can be purchase that reinforce writing and reading skills. If the child is in school and has homework, allow the child to do homework along side the parent doing reading and writing tasks. It becomes a communal task as a result and habits will be established that will continue on into the future.
MAKE IT TACTILE
Pre-school and elementary school teachers often teach the basic writing and reading skills with tactile lessons. Consider spelling words in chocolate pudding on a big piece of paper or using popcorn to spell out the word "popcorn". These types of tactile associations make the beginning writer think that it is fun and as well as remembering the spelling. Language becomes part of art and food. For reading, using felt story boards and having a child tell imaginary stories aloud to accompany the story board is great. This can be done with stuffed animals or paper dolls too. Allow the child to make up stories verbally. As the child develops more reading and writing skills advance to writing these stories on paper and reading the stories. Adding a real image or object helps the child to visualize the story.
IN THE KITCHEN
The kitchen provides a wealth of reading opportunities. Encourage a child to help read recipes. Start with simple muffin mixes or pudding mixes. Have the child read the marks on the measuring cups. Eventually have kids write down recipes of their own. For example when making homemade pizza, allow the child to help add ingredients. Then tell the child the combination was so good that the recipe needs to be written down so it can be made again. List them in the order they were added. This helps kids understand the importance of sequence which can be key when writing and reading instructions in school.
PLAY MUSIC
Singing is really just poetry adapted to musical instruments. Have copies of the lyrics for children to read while listening to music or singing themselves. Sing in church and allow the child to follow along from early on. This reinforces the reading process from left to right. Reading fluency and expression really is melody, much like singing a song. The rhythmic quality of music is reflective in reading. Music can be a very successful tool to use to teach writing too. Take a simple childhood song and write different lyrics to the tune. Write lyrics about the family cat that mimics Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. It takes a musical experience that is engrained in the mind of the child and it melds with the creative writing aspect to reinforce reading and writing.
JOURNALS/DIARIES
Journals and diaries may seem like a hokey childhood experiences that are only about writing secrets to keep from siblings or parents, but actually they provide great writing opportunities. The key is to not necessarily leaving them wide open because then the topic of what to write about is overwhelming and tends to be about the cereal they ate for breakfast rather than something with any meaning. When on vacation, create a travel journal or scrapbook. Let the child journal about what is experienced. Create a journal for a particular holiday, or a favorite TV show. Narrow the journal to a topic. Allow the child to draw, type, add clippings or graphics. Encourage them to add items of texture such as leaves from the trees, or the candy wrapper from the candy they ate at the pool. Encourage the concept that details are important.
GO TO THE LIBRARY AND THE BOOK STORE
Going to the library and the book store may seem like obvious ways to work on reading skills, but it may not be done enough. Go to the library, sit in the fluffy chairs and read while the child is in the library too. Do not underestimate the value in owning books. Kids like to count books among their possessions. Don't buy a video game for $50 if conversely $50 is not going to be spent on books. Make it clear to the kids that books are not a waste of money. Instead they are always worth the investment. After buying a book, don't make the child treat the book with gloves on. It is acceptable to write in the books. It is acceptable to take a sticky note and mark a favorite spot. Even into high school have the child mark 3 great passages in what they read at night or mark three words that they think are interesting.
Encouraging reading and writing is not an empty void. It can't be buying or checking out books and then never following up. Read aloud together, share the joy of reading and writing with the child and the child will then see it as a positive experience rather than a burden.