Reading train - Improve your reading skills

how to engaged parents in reading with their young children?

I am a parent of a 4 year old boy, but he does not want to let me read to him. So how do I get him engaged in reading with me.

Public Comments

1. let him pick the books
2. If you are doing something normally that looks like fun, does he come over to check it out? If he does, then pick up a book (one you think he might like) and start reading out loud. Make all the sound effects, talk in different voices for the different characters and he will come to you to see what is going on. Hopefully he will anyway. If that works, then over time he will be asking for you to read books to him and enjoy it. Good luck. It is great seeing moms want to read to their kids!
3. Make it a part of your routine. If you do it regularly, similar to how you feed him, bathe him, and put him to bed at the same time each day, he'll get used to it. Kudos to you for wanting to get him hooked on reading at such a young age! I love hearing about parents who do this! You might also want to check with your local library. Many of them have story time for young children, where an adult reads a story and leads them in fun activities... it might spark an interest!
4. Have you always read to him before or is this something new your starting to try? The first thing I would do would to be to limiting the TV time during the day. Also I just recently seen something on TV that was talking about how to get your kids to read more. It said some boys like to read about things that actual are real. How about buying a few books on Zoo animals that tell facts about them and taking him to the zoo. Then once your there you can talk about what you’ve learned. You could also try taking him to a book store and letting him pic out a book. There are funny books like the Stinky Cheese Man (I think that’s the name of it) that might appeal to him. Have you tried books on his favorite cartoon show? That might help or it might make him want to watch the show.
5. i think a good way would be to take him to the library to the children section let him pick the book or make it interesting for him. (making funny voices etc) also maybe when he is in bed and getting ready to go to sleep you could sit next to him and read a story every night that interest him i bet eventually he will be excited to hear the end.
6. let him pick out a book at the store, no matter what it is (even some nickelodeon branded crap), and read it to him. as he gets used to reading that book try to add another to the mix, maybe in the same genre as the first book, Over time you can introduce more.
7. Get books that you think he will be interested in. If he likes trucks, get books about trucks........and so on. Get books with loads of color and pictures. They don't have to be books with many words or even full stories. Start with very simple books. Let him pick them out. Have you tried bedtime? This is a great time to read to a child because they are tired and relaxed and their minds are not on what they are going to do next. They basically can not "get away". Good luck. Reading and teaching your child a love of books and literature is so important. Do not give up!
8. Try something that is high interest to him- like comic books or something a big boy might read. You do not have to use age appropriate material if your reading to him. The key is getting him interested and comic books (normal ones-made for teens and adults) sometimes work for those stubborn little boys. My grandfather use to read books about WW2 to my brother when he was 5.