Encouraging Early Readers

January first brings a bright new start to a new year! I have a couple goals in mind for resolutions, but one I come back to every year includes reading. We always set goals to be reading more and exploring more through books! My big girl has grown leaps and bounds with reading and I’m so excited to encourage her and include her in a fun challenge for January. 

I really believe the small break we took over Christmas was an invaluable gift! During that time she read just because she wanted to, her confidence grew, and reading clicked as something enjoyable vs what we do for lessons. Sometimes I think giving our children the gift of a break allows the lessons we’ve taught them to “sink in” and “click.” This month we set a goal to completely fill in our reading log with books she’s read aloud all by herself! Then we’ll go ice skating together when she finishes it! 

Here are a few ways I plan to encourage my budding reader:

1. Engagement I want to engage both her heart and mind so I plan to provide her with several options to read at her specific skill level (or lower.) We’ll use our reader from The Good and The Beautiful, the reader set from All About Reading, My First Library from Usborne Books, BOB Books, and “I Can Read” Level K books from the library. I’ll be sure to include a handful of “I Can Read” books with characters she’s particularly fond of-Biscuit, Fancy Nancy, etc. 
2. Confidence A big part of building confidence is through praise! Use the gift of words to lift their spirits and cheer them on! Use a reading log to track all the great reading he/she is doing. Watch it fill up and celebrate completing it with a fun prize! Another big confidence builder is lower leveled books. Don’t shy your child from reading books that seem “below” their level. These types of books make reading especially fun and significantly impact confidence! 
3. Habit Make reading each day a habit. Aim for around 10 minutes every day. Encourage your little to read aloud to you, to a sibling, or even just to themselves. Block it into your day- maybe you’ll read at bedtime each night or during rest time, but finding a specific part of the day to attach reading to will make it more maintainable. 
4. Visit the Library Having a steady stream of new books will keep your reader excited! Again, keep their level in mind as you want to encourage them to actually read the text. Aim for books right at their level, maybe a few slightly above their level and a good number of books below their reading skill level.