Top 10 Ways to Raise a Lifelong Reader

1. Read to or with your child every day, for at least 15 minutes, even when your child is old enough to read independently.
2. Create reading rituals. Cuddle together in the same comfortable space at the same time every day for bedtime stories; read a chapter book aloud at the breakfast table; pick out new books every time you go on vacation.
3. Keep a running conversation: Talk about books you are reading as you read them. Ask your child open-ended questions about the plot and the characters.
4. Show your child that you're a reader. Kids are more likely to grow up loving to read if they see that you enjoy it too.
5. Surround your child with words -- spoken and written -- from birth. Even the simplest everyday conversations build his vocabulary and sound-recognition skills. Frequent exposure to letters and print helps pre-readers learn the alphabet and recognize words by sight. Have fun with language: Sing songs, read rhymes, play word games.
6. Get your child a library card and make a regular date for visits to the library.
7. Make books available in every room of your home -- as well as your car -- so that reading can happen spontaneously.
8. Feed a passion: Help your child find books, magazines, or other written materials that relate to a special interest or hobby.
9. Limit "screen time" (TV, video games, and computer games) so that it does not cut into time better spent reading.
10. Writing supports reading and vice versa. Provide crayons, pens, pencils, and paper and encourage your child to write. Anything will do: letters, shopping lists, journal entries, original stories, etc.

Ten Ways to Make Reading Part of Every Day

1. Keep Books in Reach
Make sure there are plenty of books where your child can easily see and reach them so he can pick one up whenever he wants. Include catalogs and magazines too!

2. Drawing Time
Build up your child's ability to hold writing implements and control her use of line just by letting her draw and color.

3. Write a Story Together
Have your child draw a picture and ask her what's happening within it or what she would title her drawing. Write down the story or title at the bottom. Encourage her to draw a series of pictures and develop her sense of story. You'll also empower her with the idea she can create stories herself.

4. Meet and Greet the Library
Bring your child along on trips to the library. Make it a familiar and friendly experience and show him that there is a place where he can freely access tons of books.

5. Stop, Look, and Ask While Your Child Listens
Make sure to pause and point things out to your child while you're reading. Ask questions about stories as you read them and discuss plots and characters after you're done to develop reading comprehension skills.

6. Make Your Own Books on Tape
Tired of reading the same books again and again? Record you or your child reading those books so she can listen to them whenever she wants -- at bedtime, while playing, or in the car.

7. Label Everything
Putting signs or stickers on things around the house is a great way to connect language with concrete objects. It lets your child know that everything has a name and a word attached to it.

8. How Was Your Day?
Expand your child's sense of narrative by giving simple explanations of what happened to you during an ordinary day. Tell him of happenings and how they affected later events. Ask him to tell you about his day, too.

9. Create an Alphabet Book
Take 26 pieces of heavy paper and write one letter from the alphabet on each. Challenge your child to draw pictures of things beginning with each letter. When she's finished at least one drawing per letter, bind it together, and present her with her novel work.

10. Rhyme Time
Challenge your child to come up with simple rhymes for words like "cat" and "ball." It's a fun game you can play anywhere and builds phonemic awareness.

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