Today I’m sharing my top tips on how to teach your children to love reading. If you’ve been hanging around here for awhile you know that before this whole stay-at-home mom gig, I was a teacher. I taught ninth grade for a semester, seventh grade for half a year, then I taught Kindergarten for three years. It was delightful watching little minds at work. Even though I taught older grades, I loved working with the Kindergartners the best becauseI was able to instill a natural love for reading in them. Keep reading to find out my tried and true tips for inspiring children to love books.

How to Teach Your Children to Love Reading:

Get excited about reading (BOTH of you). 

There’s nothing more gratifying for a child than seeing an adult show enthusiasm. Children live for moments where they can connect with us emotionally. Therefore, me showing Grace how stoked I am to read a book with her seriously makes her giddy. It’s like when I was teaching and I would feel bored with the lesson I was bout to teach. My students could feel my boredom and wouldn’t grasp the concept as well. I had to get really excited about the lesson and that helped them get excited too. When I show enthusiasm, Grace feels happier too!

Set up a tradition revolved around books. 

Reading the same book each holiday is a good way to start tradition. I know bedtime stories are a typical kid thing, but sometimes that get’s left in the dust once children get to a certain age. Keep it alive (especially for your older kiddos) so that they still look forward to that time spent together reading! “Read-alouds” are a great way to read with your older kids at bedtime. We would use chapter books in the classroom when I was teaching, and when I was a student. Even though older kids know how to read by themselves, it’s nice for them to just listen and imagine too. Reading doesn’t always need to be work, right?

Be an example to your children (Read a book!)

I say this in the sweetest most understanding tone possible. (I am a busy mother too, after all.) When your children see you reading books it will show them that it’s a natural thing for adults (not just children) to do. Are you seeing a pattern here? Kids love to read — then they hit school age, and some of them decide it’s no longer for them… it’s our job to keep our older kids excited about it. Literacy is knowledge, and knowledge is power!

Make books available to them.

This may seem like common sense, but having books available in the living room, in the car, in their play spaces, and in their rooms will guarantee that they’ll get read! Don’t hide them away in an office. I love the Bookroo subscription program for young readers because it makes it so easy for parents to have new books stocked up each month! Read more about Bookroo below!

What is Bookroo?

Bookroo is a premium book box delivery service for kids! Our Bookroo boxes come once a month. We have a one year subscription but there are package options for every 1, 3, 6 or 12 months. There are two options for boxes; you can get two picture books for older kiddos, and a box of three board books for younger kiddos. We have the board book option, and I’m not kidding when I say that every single one of Grace’s favorite books have come from her Bookroo boxes. They really know how to pick them.

We’ve had Bookroo for a year now, and I can honestly say that it’s one of the best investments for children. I’ve had countless friends buy a package for their kiddos because they see how excited Grace gets every time she opens her Bookroo package! Did I mention that each book in the box is hand wrapped with the most adorable wrapping paper? Grace’s favorite part is opening the books up every month and then we sit and read them a million times.

Read the adorable story of how Bookroo was founded here. If you’re interested in signing up for Bookroo box for your child then check out the FAQ’s here. Mom Tip: they usually offer 15% off your subscription price is you sign up for their newsletter, so check that out before purchasing!

Hopefully this post with tips on how to teach your children to love reading is helpful to you and your family!

Did you love reading as a child? What about as an adult? 

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Thank you so much for reading!