Why is "Make reading as fun as possible" listed as #1? Because the research shows that the best possible activity for increasing reading skill is...reading. The more time you spend reading something that you care about, the better reader you'll be. It has to be something you care about, because otherwise you won't be doing everything you can to learn new words and understand the meaning of what you need, so you won't be building your fluency and comprehension skills the way good readers do.

This means we have to find ways to entice kids to spend as much time reading things they care about as possible. Kids are kids, so the only way they will do this is if there is a payoff—and for kids, the payoff is fun.

What can we do to convince kids that reading is fun? Keep these primary pointers in mind:

• Try to find books that relate to what your child is curious about, interested in, or loves.
• Many kids love the humor in Dr. Seuss books. They see those great, crazy illustrations and become incredibly curious about what the story is about.
• Other kids are curious about dinosaurs, sharks, or bugs, and they love learning the names of these creatures and fun facts about them. If they can find that in books, then they'll love spending time with those books.
• Still other kids fall in love with a particular character, especially if it relates to their personal interest. A kid who loves dogs might love the Biscuit puppy character created by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and want to spend time with the series of Biscuit books.
• The key is personalization. Know your child, find books that they'll be curious to read and love. Their reading skills will increase dramatically.
  
  
  
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Making Reading Fun | Reduce the Frustrations | Child as Self-Teacher | Book Set Descriptions