Encouraging Reading in Children and Teens article

I recently found an article about ways to get kids excited about reading. This is an issue that I've thought a lot about since being in this class. I know that it's often difficult to get kids reading for fun and in their spare time, so this article had some good ideas for what parents can do to encourage their children to read and facilitate a good reading atmosphere at home.
The first part of the article focused on young children. The "10 Ways to Help You Raise Kids Who Love Reading" are:
1. Read aloud to your children every day.
2. Get a library card.
3. Take your children to the library once a week.
4. Discuss children's books with your child.
5. Take your children to storytimes, author visits, and other public programs.
6. Buy books that you know will interest your child.
7. Create a comfortable reading space for your child.
8. Visit the Web sites of favorite authors and illustrators.
9. Once a week, cook together using a children's cookbook.
10.Buy your children a good dictionary and use it regularly.

I thought a lot of these suggestions were good and would definitely help kids start to enjoy reading. I like the idea of parents getting a library card for the kids and making trips to the library once a week. I remember my mom taking me to the library and I was always so excited when I could pick out my very own book. I also like the idea of parents dicussing books they read with their kids and obviously, reading together will make reading fun and a quality time as a family. I thought that the idea to cook from a children's cookbook once a week was a little bit of a stretch, but other than that these 10 ideas for raising a reader seemed like they would really work!
The potentially more different thing to do is encourage your teen to be a reader. Teens are often busy and can become less engaged by books as they grow up but these tips for encouraging a teen (or "tween") to read sounded pretty good to me. The tips for Motivating Your Tween To Read are:
1. Read What's Popular
2. Consider Magazines
3. Start a Club
4. Enlist Their Help
5. Prioritize
6. Set an Example

I really liked these suggestions because they seemed realistic (except for maybe the starting your own book club idea). Tip number one encourages parents to show children books that are popular, like books from a movie that they like or one that a lot of their friends might be reading to make reading "cool". I liked that the author of this article encouraged reading of magazines if the teens aren't into reading books, reading is reading so any source or topic is still beneficial. The tip about enlisting teens help discussed having the teen help younger siblings, neighbors, or younger kids they babysit for to learn to read. This will allow the teen to work on their reading skills and be able to help a younger child enjoy reading. The one tip I didn't really like was the prioritize one. This said that parents should set aside time for reading by turning off all games, phones, and the TV and making their teen read. Part of the reasons teens may not enjoy reading is because it becomes mandantory so I didn't think this would help them enjoy reading. Lastly, the best tip may be to set an example. For both children and teens, if they see adults that they look up to reading and enjoying books, they will most likely want to try it and may even encourage reading together.
Overall these were interesting articles with good tips that definitely apply to what we talk about in class!