4 Ways To Make Any Time Reading Time For Your Kids

May 4, 2021

TV time can be reading time.

Turn on the closed-captioning feature on your television and use it for every show. According to Reading Rockets, the subtitles that appear in sync with TV dialog “can provide struggling readers with additional print exposure, improving foundational reading skills.” For those not familiar with Reading Rockets, it is an initiative of the public television station WETA Washington, D.C. Reading Rockets goal is to improve child literacy by using research-based techniques.
Read at the market

When you’re shopping, stop in front of a shelf holding something that is important to your child—that you were already planning to buy. This may be in the cereal aisle, the bake-at-home pizza section, or in front of the freezers containing ice cream. Ask them an either/or question about the items… a question that requires them to read the labels to answer. It could be a question about the price, or about the ingredients, or about the promotion on the package. They’ll be practicing their reading skills in a practical and stress-free way.
Write notes to your kids.

Everyone loves opening a fortune cookie, right? Well you can tap into the excitement that comes in those tiny message by writing little notes and planting them in common, but unexpected places. If you pack your child’s lunch, write a little greeting and place it inside fro them to find while at school. When you put a new tube of toothpaste in the bathroom cabinet, attach a little poem to it. There are so many opportunities for little notes: it’s fun, it’s free, it shows you care… and oh yeah, it’s reading!
Fill your phone with story apps.

When your child is bored and they ask to borrow your phone to pass the time, don’t let them play a twitch game. Instead stock your phone with one of the many excellent apps that provide quality stories for your children. If you don’t know which story apps are right for you, check out this great resource from Common Sense Media.