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PSPKK123September 21, 2016 •  27 Comments

How to get kids to read more

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Want to know how to get your kids to read more? Today we’re sharing five of our best tips!

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The field of education is rife with debate and disagreements, but we all agree on one thing.

Kids need to read.

A lot.

The problem? A lot of things compete for our kids’ time. Playtime, sports practice, piano lessons, and even mealtime and homework can make it difficult for our kids to find time to read. Before we know it, it’s been a week and they’ve hardly cracked open a book except at school.

What can we do?

5 Tips for getting kids to read more

1. Make it routine.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about having a houseful of kids, it’s that routines make everything go more smoothly.  At our house, my oldest has her afternoon snack and then parks on the couch for twenty minutes with a book and a timer.  If you’d like to listen as your child reads, have him sit at the kitchen table while you prepare supper. Another idea is to have your child read a book in the van on the way to sports practice.

What if you can’t find 20 minutes all at once? Stash a book or iPad in your purse and pull it out when you have five or ten minutes to spare. The twenty minutes don’t have to be consecutive.

What will your family’s reading routine be?

2. Make books available.

I’m a big fan of the library, and so are my kids. In fact, my Nine would be happy if we went to the library every day after school. But since she has five younger siblings, it’s just not possible. (Not if this mom is to stay sane, anyway.)

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My Nine searches for a new book to read with the Epic app.

Thankfully we recently discovered the Epic! app. It’s got over 15,000 kid-friendly titles (no young adult fiction to sort through, phew!).  We can access the books on our desktop computer, tablet, or phone. We can even download books to read on the run when we don’t have wi-fi access.

3. Find books that fit your child’s reading level.

Determining my kids’ reading level is relatively easy for me, since I taught reading for a number of years. But if you’re a parent without a teaching background it’s trickier. Ask your child’s teacher for suggested titles.

You should also talk to your children’s librarian. Your library’s books might be organized in a way that makes it easy to find books just right for your child. A word of caution: if you’re relying on Accelerated Reader book lists, proceed carefully. Often a book’s reading level is what your child needs, but the content is entirely inappropriate.

If you want a safe, easy way to find books that fit your child’s level, I recommend the Epic! app. I love that it has recommended age levels for each title. This makes it really easy for me to find books for my Six. He tends to pick books that are much too hard and then quit on the first page, but with Epic! I can quickly find appropriate titles by searching for books for ages 6-8.

I have a different problem with my Eight. He is an excellent reader, but doesn’t want to read books at his reading level because “they’re too long.” I’ve been able to get around this using the Epic! app. He can’t see how many pages the book is when he’s reading on a screen (tee hee).

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My Eight is (finally!) reading a book at his level.

4. Find books that fit your child’s interests.

This can be tough, especially if your child doesn’t enjoy realistic fiction or fantasy – which seem to be the easiest books to find at the library. If you’re struggling to find books that your child enjoys, I strongly recommend kid-friendly nonfiction. Some of our favorites are the National Geographic for Kids books. Epic! has a big selection of these, plus many more nonfiction titles. For a great list of nonfiction series for kids, visit This Reading Mama.

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My Six reads a nonfiction book about robots.

5. Read to your child.

I saved this one for last because it’s the most important. Even strong readers need to be read to! Reading to your kids will teach them the joy of reading, let them enjoy books beyond their reading level, and spark an interest in subjects they wouldn’t have discovered on their own. My favorite source for family read aloud titles is What Do We Do All Day. (You simply must check out her blog!)

P.S. I love that Epic! has audio books too. It’s not the same as having a parent read aloud, but it’s a great option for long car rides and quiet time.

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Epic! is offering one reader a free six-month subscription! Enter below.

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Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Epic!. All text and opinions are my own.

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My reaction to Emily Hanford’s article, “At a Loss for Words” Family dinner out + a book! – an end of the school year tradition Answers to YOUR questions about shared reading

Reader Interactions

27 Comments

  1. Alex

    I’m from Ukraine and it’s really hard to find an jriginal English book for a child that costs less than 15$ considering that a minimum wage in the country is only 40$ a month. So it might be a great opportunity)

    Reply to this comment

  3. Kristen

    I am constantly looking for the key that will get my 14 year old step son to read. He went from being an elementary school child who loved to read to a pre-teen who didn’t. If this subscription would offer up diverse books for him, it would be a great win for us as a family.

    Reply to this comment

  14. Leah

    My 7 year old devours books faster than I can supply them, but is also put off by longer looking books. I think Epic would be a great fit to keep him reading and encourage him to stretch into longer books. Thanks!

    Reply to this comment

  16. kelli

    my son gets really bored with his 20 minutes of reading as homework everyday. i would love to easily expand his interests without having to go to the library everyday or a bookstore. this is a great giveaway!

    Reply to this comment

  18. Joy

    My 4 1/2 year old is already difficult to keep up with in the reading department. She devours anything I’m able to find on her level. I can only imagine this will get more difficult in the next few months & years. Epic seems like a great tool to have.

    Reply to this comment

  24. Erica G

    I am really intrigued by this app that I have never heard of. Right now we use Kindle app for books on the screen and it’s ok but wished there were more titles. I am definitely going to check out The epic app.

    Reply to this comment

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