Read to Self
“Students who read independently become better readers, score higher on tests, and have greater content knowledge than those who do not.” But it’s one thing to tell your child to read, and another thing for it to work. These simple, research-based strategies will take you a long way.
My son reading one of my magazines. He happened on a page that says “…Broaden your child’s mind.” Made me chuckle.
There’s a term educators call “the Matthew Effect.” It’s drawn from a biblical story about the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer. The basic idea is that advantages and disadvantages accumulate over time. In literacy, this simply means that exposure to books matters a lot.
Reading researchers (Nagy & Herman, 1987) have estimated that a student who reads for 4.6 minutes a day is exposed to 282,000 words per year, whereas a student who reads for 20 minutes a day will be exposed to 1.8 million words per year. Compare this to a student who avoids reading and reads for less than 1 minute per day; they are exposed to a mere 8,000 words per year.
Independent reading is one of the most powerful ways you can help your child become more successful in school and life.
Let’s get started!
If you and your child are new to this, I’d suggest following all of these tips. Otherwise, pick and choose.
Make sure your child has an undistracted reading space. For ideas, check out my post Building a Book Burrow.
Show enthusiasm about books. I don’t spend much time talking about reading with my toddler, but it’s a way of life for us. We go to the library once or twice a month, and subscribe to Highlights magazine. We also get a free book mailed to us monthly through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. My son lights up every time it comes. When we need to pass time driving in the car, I’ll offer him a couple books to read. Nothing is forced, just encouraged. For PreK/preschool-age kids, I suggest positive, fun exposure to books, but nothing too structured.
Make sure your child has interesting books to read — fiction and non-fiction.
Set expectations for what reading looks like. Here is a simple checklist your elementary-age child can follow. For some kids, it can be fun and helpful to act out examples and non-examples together first before getting started. Ex. Pretend to read loudly and distractedly, giggle about it, and then practice what independent reading actually looks like.
Download this Read to Self Checklist here
5. Set a timed reading goal with your child. 20 minutes a day is ideal for elementary kids.
But don’t start there if your child isn’t already naturally disappearing into books. Start where they can be successful. For ex., I’ve worked with a kindergartener over the past year on building reading stamina. We decided on 15 minutes with a prize. She really wanted to go to Marbles Kids Museum and was motivated to work for it. On the first day, she only read one minute. We celebrated that. Each day, we added 1-2 minutes. Whenever she had trouble focusing, we stopped increasing the minutes and just focused on doing well in that time frame. What mattered was that she continued to feel successful and not discouraged. After about a month, she reached 15 minutes and had the best time at the museum.
Tip: Let your child choose their reward, as long as it’s easy for you. Ex. Movie night, a special dessert, game, or going somewhere your child loves.
Click here for this Reading Stamina Chart - your child can color or put a sticker each day as they read more and more.
6. At the end of the day, good reading habits can only happen with consistency. Try as best as you can to help your child, shrug off the bad days, and try again. Having reading goals on the fridge or easy-to-see place can also help.
I hope these tips are helpful! Ultimately, every reader and home will look different, but the best thing we can do as parents is give opportunities. It’s also up to your child to take them.
Interested in more research on reading? Check out this massive Cambridge study— Reading for pleasure in early childhood linked to better cognitive performance and mental wellbeing...
Resilient Educator — what are the consequences of reading vs. not reading independently? (quote cited at top of blog)
