BaBies, Teens
& inBeTweens
by Barbara Bellesi
Beyond Books:
How to Get Your Child Reading
Anything and Everything
Research shows that children who enjoy reading and do it often will become more successful in school. Keep in mind that a book isn’t
the only choice they have for reading material. For parents with picky readers, it may come as a welcome reminder that there are plenty of
other options for kids for whom reading a book is the equivalent to eating broccoli.
Magazines. Remember how exciting it was for you to get mail when you were younger? Share that
feeling with your young reader. Forget the steep newsstand prices that you see; subscriptions often
cost as little as one or two dollars per issue. Magazines are a great way to “sneak” in valuable reading
time because articles range in length, which means that your child can read a couple in just one sitting.
Many kids will fondly remember their Highlights for Children days, but there are plenty of other
magazines out there for your child’s age group. There are also many kids’ versions of grownup
magazines, like Teen Vogueand TIME for Kids, but don’t be afraid to challenge them and give them one of
your own magazines to read—provided you approve the subject matter of the articles they contain. Also,
don’t forget that the very copy of SIP that you are holding has two great columns, Parent and Child Time
and Gigi’s World, that would make great reading material for both you
and your child.
The more types of
Newspapers. Whether they read late-breaking news online or the
reading materials
sports section in the copy that hits your lawn each morning,
there are in the
newspapers are your kids’ daily source of reading material.
home, the higher
Newspapers are meant to be read by a wide audience, so the
articles will probably be more accessible to your kids than
students are in
you might think. Also, many newspapers have their own
reading proficiency,
kids’ sections, which helps break
according to the
down hot news topics and
trends even further for
Educational Testing
younger readers.
Service.
Websites. You probably already have a love-hate relationship with
your kids using the Internet, but when properly supervised, there is a ton
of reading material waiting out there on the Web. Newspapers and
magazines are known for having great interactive websites that feature
material not found in the paper version. Again, many media outlets produce
online content just for kids; for example, Sports Illustrated has
SIKids.com, which
is a great site to visit for all the latest articles and news on your kids’ favorite athletes.
Once your child finds something he or she enjoys reading on a regular basis, do
everything you can to be encouraging. For others, it may take a little bit of time, but there
is hope. Just remember that not everyone is a natural book lover—and that there’s
plenty of other reading material out there for young readers to get their hands on.
Barbara Bellesi is a writer and owns the editorial consulting firm
The Write Woman. She can be reached at
barbara@thewritewoman.com.
58 March 2009 |
www.siparent.com
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