When you have kids are you going to make them read?

[sarahas8609]

I am not going to make them read. But I do hope they find out that they like reading at some point in their life. I didn't discover that I enjoyed it until my late teens.

[julianfroment]

Definitely. I think you can encourage kids to read by making it fun. Read with them and soon they will be wanting to read by themselves as well. I also don't think you should be too dictatorial about what they read.

[devinair]

When I have kids, I would love for them to read just like me. but then every kid is a different individual. just because i love to read, my kid need not follow it. they have their own freedom to experiment everything and come back to reading only if they want to.

[gali]

I did so when they were younger, but not now of course. They would read every eve, before bed time. Now my daughters love to read. My youngest son doesn't read yet, but I read to him every night.

[lwinstead2002]

I don't believe in "making" kids read; I believe in encouraging them to read. I have two sons, 7 and 1, and since they were born I have read to them and surrounded them with books. The easiest way to get a child to love books is to read something to them they are interested in and plant that seed.

[B_elk123]

Yes. Reading is extremely important to me. I plan on reading to my children as early as when they are in utero.

[prisailurophile]

I wouldn't say I'm going to make them, rather, encourage them to appreciate books.

[jmalone1994]

I don't want to make them read, but I want to push them in that direction for them to choose to take up reading because I feel if they think they are being forced into it they will not enjoy it.

[x1f4j8k9]

You can't force them to, but I will certainly try and encourage them too. I will also aim to lead by example and have them notice me reading, and hopefully they follow suit.

[tracydinh96]

Heck yes I will! I would want my children to know the importance of reading.

[obiebookworm]

Well, since I homeschooled my kids through the majority of their elementary school years, I taught them to read. My ultimate goal in schooling them was that they would learn how to read before they ever attended a school, and I am thankful that that was accomplished. All my kids are avid readers, as a result.

[Bella_0772]

I don't plan on having kids, but I would not make them read. I would read to them from birth so they would always know books in their life. Hopefully this would be enough to get them to love books, if not I would support them in whatever else they liked.

[Nathrad Sheare]

Yes, and I don't think I need to justify myself on that point... If I have kids, yes!

-- 05 Jan 2014, 21:13 --

Is it obvious I've never been a parent? Ha, ha!

[jaguilar]

I have 5 children all ages 7 and younger, my job as a parent is to make sure over the next 18 years of their lives that they have the tools they need to be successful as adults, reading is vital, period. For those of you who do not have children yet, they will model after you. If they see you reading they will want you to read to them, then they will read to you, then they will read beside you, then they will read on their own. The biggest issue I have seen so far is that my children's interests are not matched by required school reading for their grade levels (1st and 2nd) school reading is farm animals and fuzzy things and they really want action and adventure so we have to negotiate privet collection reading time and school required reading time, but they do like to read.

[suzy1124]

I would hope to teach them by " example "...bro and i would always see mom and dad reading, so we took their lead...

same thing happened w/my own kidlets, begging to visit our library for " story-time " at a very young age...