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Taking inspiration from my childhood, the way to encourage children to read is to engage their imagination and interest with detailed and colorful imagery in the storybook. As much as possible, it's best for the pages to consist more of artwork than story as it pulls the child in and keeps their mind busy with looking at the images and discovering small details. Once they have the setting established in their head, they'll be interested in knowing what that setting has to tell. Reading with the parent is also a good influence as young children will more than likely be eager to be involved in what their parent is interested in. Perhaps subtly ask for their attention by sitting nearby and opening up a great big storybook. Parents usually stray away from "big" words that may seem too complicated for the child but that is an incorrect way of helping them read. "Children's minds are like sponges." is a well-known and true saying. As children absorb everything around them, whether good or bad. It's the parents' and teacher's job to adjust the environment accordingly to lead them towards a positive reading experience. Teaching them those "big" words will be a good and impressive addition to their vocabulary, no matter their age or level of reading(of course that excludes anything too explicit). Now, we will instill a love for reading in children through the parents' and teacher's eyes. Teaching a child is an effort shared by the parent and teacher, something that most teachers would agree on. For a parent, their child learning how to read is something they eagerly expect, almost immediately after the child has learned how to speak. For the child to take in what they read with a certain understanding is a goal both the parents and the teacher share. Even while the child is in the womb, the parents are glad to talk to him/her. Reading the child stories or just having a friendly conversation(though one-sided). Why should that stop when the child is born? Reading and speaking to the child is important as it expands their vocabulary. Which is why it's also important to use baby talk sparingly and to expose them to new words often. Learning new vocabulary will prompt the child to test his/her knowledge and to learn more new words. And to cater to that self-testing is reading. It's then the parents' role to choose books that will suit their child's personality. But they should also let the child choose as the child's preference comes into fruition. When the child gets older they can be exposed to lengthier books for young readers(such as The Boxcar Children series). With the amount of time the teacher and child spend together in class, the teacher has recently been dubbed as the "third parent." So it's important that the teacher knows how they influence the child's growth and development. A teacher who is an avid reader can be more effective than a teacher that isn't. Showing genuine enthusiasm and interest in the subject material will keep the children's attention. With the teacher's opinion along with the help of the parent's advice, give or introduce books that are within the child's interest. If the teacher has a creative side, he/she can write up a short story for the students to read as well. Including the students' names will garner interest and amusement from the children. Keep an eye out for the early reader and try to pair or group him up with his classmates in the hopes that his interest will rub off on them. Talk to the parents and explain to them how much reading together or just reading to the child will improve their learning, attention, and eagerness to read. And to let the child frequently hear, "Let's read it together."
