Seven Ways to Encourage Children to Read

We’ve put together our hints and tips to help you make reading a positive and enjoyable experience – we hope you find them useful.

If you are looking for suitable reading books for your children, whatever age, find out more about our exciting primary reading scheme, Cambridge Reading Adventures, here.

7 ways to encourage children to read 

• Get comfortable – children can be easily distracted. To increase focus and enjoyment, find a reading spot that is comfortable and has no distractions.
• Be positive – children respond better to reading when they feel they are in a supportive environment. Let them finish their sentence before pointing out mistakes.
• Work it out together – reading tools such as spelling out the word using letter sounds will help a child to understand unfamiliar words and build their vocabulary.
• Build their confidence – if you suspect a book is too hard or easy swap it for a different level. Making sure children are reading at the right level will help build their confidence.
• Praise frequently – regular praise is an excellent tool that will encourage children to continue developing their reading skills. Children enjoy feeling as though they are doing a good job.
• Talk about the story – discussing the story you’re about to read with a child will help to increase their enjoyment of reading and improve their comprehension skills.
• Let them pick their own book – every child has different interests. Letting them pick their own book helps keep them engaged and encourages a love of reading.