If we think back to our earliest memory of reading we can probably all conjure up some feelings of independence, feelings of being a "big kid" (for those of us with older siblings) and feelings of a secret world full of adventure and excitement. We all learned how to read and many of us still have these same feelings we did when we first read. So how then as parents do we foster this with our own children? it's simple, we introduce them to books, have fun with them, show them great information comes from them and put aside time to be with books then we let the magic take hold!

Reading is more than sitting at a kitchen table with flash cards and sounding out letters, in fact this perhaps should never happen. How did our children first learn to speak? Did we sit them down and go through sounds? Did we stress and insist on perfect enunciation? No we simply talked, sang songs, surrounded them in language and lo and behold they spoke..and spoke and spoke!

We as parents can sometimes want the best for our children to the point of "reinventing the wheel". Kids that read will be those who have been exposed to books, puppet shows, have a library card and can laugh at comics. It doesn't have to be hard and in fact the harder we make it the more "forced" the entire process will become and we may even make our child feel that reading is laborious and a no fun zone!

So the next time you start to wonder if you are raising a reader look around and see if books are available and if your child has time to themselves everyday to have fun with them and you will have answered your own question.

Learn more about this author, Jackie Hofmeister.
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