How to Develop Good Reading Habits: 51+ Proven Ways

A good reading habit is one of those fundamental keys to success in life. Reading is that asset that will give you lifelong profit regardless of the field.

Starting from education to recreation, getting information to its application, having the inspiration to the manifestation it is everywhere.

Here we will give you some tips about practicing good reading in your child first and then we will also talk about adults and beginners who find reading difficult and are also struggling to make it a habit. 

tips to develop a great reading habit. 

Know that reading is for everyone- Regardless of your age, your likings, your field of interest, and every other possible parameter, just develop a good reading habit and help the growth of your mind to reach the next level.

Understand the gift of good reading- A good reading habit benefits a person in every possible means. It not only increases the vocabulary but also develops good problem-solving and analyzing capacity. 

Grow concentration by reading- Even one can’t believe how practicing daily reading helps increase a person’s concentration and mindfulness and helps him to evolve a better version of himself.

Tell your child the importance of reading- It can be said that reading is the soul of a child’s entire education system. It will not only help him or her to shine academically but also to be successful in every aspect of life.

Start reading to your child even before he or she learns to read- You should make reading a daily habit when your kid is just an infant. practicing listening from that age will help to grow a good reader in the future.

Read Aloud- Regardless to say if you are reading a book or telling a story to your newborn, you should be at least that much loud that your baby can hear you and connect to you properly.

Use different tones for different characters while reading out to kids- Studies say that kids can relate to something more with different pictures or sounds linked with it. So, making different sounds for different characters will actually make things relatable to the youngster.

Fix a particular time for reading- practicing something daily at a particular time is what we call a habit. Therefore, to develop a good reading habit in your child, fix a particular time for reading and make him or her realize that this time is only dedicated to nothing but reading. This practice will help him or her to get accustomed to the habit.

Read in front of your child- Make sure your child observes you reading on a daily basis. Whatever you read, read in front of him. If he sees you reading all the time, which will certainly grow enthusiasm in him also for reading.

Try out audio-visual reading for infants- But for a baby who is incapable of reading and understanding a picture, the sound is the only tool that will help him or her to differentiate among the characters.

Create a cozy place for reading- It is not necessary that your child’s reading place needs to be a very fancy or luxurious one. It should be a cozy and comfortable place so that he can relate to reading with comfort. It can be a corner of the couch or a place in his playroom or a bean bag in his bedroom, but it has to be a place with a good source of light. 

Read with his favorite toy or tool- If your child likes a particular toy or any game very much so that he carries it everywhere with him, and then don’t just force him to keep it aside while reading. Rather give that to him so that he can enjoy his reading time with his favorite object.

Start reading with native language- Always start your kid’s reading habit with books of his native language. Because this is the one with which he is most familiar and comfortable. So, don’t just push your child to read in English from his early stage of reading rather encourage him to read in his native language.

Keep reading materials throughout the house- As mentioned, to raise a good reader you don’t need to have a fancy library or bookshelf or specific place for reading in your house. Just keep the reading materials here and there throughout the house so that your child gets early access to it whenever he feels like it.

Generate reading moments- Teach your child that reading is not limited to books and journals only. Ask them to read whatever comes in front of them. It can be the road signs, it can be hoarding, and it can be the name of a song playing in the car or a number from the telephone dictionary. It just shouldn’t be captivated within any limits.

Give them books printed with different colors and colorful pictures- Colourful books and books with pictorial illustrations attract children more. So, try to give them books with various colors and figures. That will increase their interest in reading at the beginning.

Listen to your kids when they read- To make your children more interested in reading, always listen to them when they read. You can also ask them to narrate and enact things whatever he or she is reading. And that will gradually develop their interest in reading.

Have conversations with them about what they are reading- If you can’t be there every time when your child is reading, at least try to discuss with them what they are reading. Ask them to give a review to you about the book or any particular story. 

Ask them to connect with real-life- Help your child to apply in real life what he or she is reading. If he can’t apply every time, at least ask him to connect with real-life things. Because that will make learning from a book easier for him.

Act as a role model for your child- Set an example and always read in front of your child. Seeing you reading newspapers, magazines, books, journals, recipes all the time, will encourage your kid in reading as well. He will also start to believe and consider reading as a good thing and try to reinforce that in his life as well.

Introduce new views to the children- Share your thoughts about a particular thing, listen to his and that’s how you can build up a chatty conversation with your kid and show your interest in the things he is reading.

Start with humorous books or stories- Children love those things most where they find fun elements. So, try to give those fables, folktales, and fairy tales first and help them to find and get the fun of reading.

Expose your kid to different Jenner’s- Try to give them room to expose with books from different Jenner’s and different authors. So, that they can find out their favorite Jenner or author or kind of books they are most interested in.

A trip to the library- Try to take your kids to the local library at least once a week. Fix a specific day on the calendar, which can be named the library day. Therefore, you will notice that your kids will look forward to that particular day throughout the whole week and become very enthusiastic about their library visits. 

Subscribe them to magazines- It can be a weekly magazine or a monthly one, but you should get them the magazines regularly. Magazines help in many ways for a child’s mental growth. 

Encourage kids to complete the tasks in magazines- It contains puzzles, mental maths, short stories, and comics, matching games, sports news, and a lot of creative things. So, a magazine works as a messenger to the child to get all the updates of what is happening around. That’s why a child also looks forward to its magazine throughout his days.

Take them to bookstores, book fairs- Whenever you are visiting a bookstore or book fairs, take your child with yourself. Get them familiar with the things- how to choose a book from plenty of collections, what to read while making a decision about buying a book, where it contains the author’s information and everything. 

Grow the interests of the children by taking them to book launch programs- Seeing other people coming to the programs, knowing about the men and women involved in literature will grow their interests, and enthusiasm for reading books will also generate a positive vibe on the child.

Make them choose books for themselves- While your child is accompanying you in your book shopping, also give her a chance to select books for herself rather than you choosing them. Choosing and buying books also generate interest in reading and exploring more with them.

Provide your child with various bookmarks- Bookmark is that important tool that helps us to keep a track of our reading. So, give your child some beautiful and colorful bookmarks to keep track of their reading. And also encourage them to make bookmarks for themselves and to gift their friends because these are all parts of growing interest in reading.

Make reading fun for them not frustrating- If you find your child is not interested in reading or does not enjoy reading then don’t panic or force her to read against her wish. Rather sit back, relax and try to find out the reasons behind her disliking. 

Analyze why your child doesn’t want to read- Not every child loves reading and there might be different reasons for it. So, being a parent, it is your duty to find that reason for your kid and try to solve that and if needed take the help of her teacher but just never make her read forcefully.

Give children independence- You can also issue a library card with their names so that they can enjoy the power of selecting their own books themselves. Take them to book stores, allow them to select.

Share books with others- Teach your child that a book can’t be old or can’t be wastage. Every book is a treasure with lots of magic in it. So, a book cannot be spare like clothes. And even if you feel so, then just give it to a friend or a cousin or a family member, whom you love to give it to.

Make your child realize the worth of a book- From the very beginning of their life make them realize that a book is always a precious asset of a person which he incurs in his life. A worn and torn book is exactly as valuable as the newly published one is. Show them books are equally important as clothes, foods, toys and other necessary items of our lives. 

Gift them books often– On their birthdays instead of expensive gifts, give them a method to increase their knowledge. Make them gift books to their friends on their birthdays. Anyhow just help them realize the importance and worth of books.

Making reading a nighttime habit- Reading books before going to bed is a very healthy practice for everyone regardless of age. Reading before sleeping helps to burn out all the stress. It also calms and soothes our mind and helps to have a good, tight sleep.

Find reading enjoyable- From now on we will talk about adults who find reading difficult and cannot make it a practice. First of all, you need to tell yourself and realize the fact that like watching TV, scrolling news feeds, playing mobile games, reading is also highly enjoyable rather more enjoyable if you choose the right kind of book for yourself.

Fix a time for reading- You should set some particular times in your daily schedule which will be dedicated to reading only. On those times you will push yourself to grab a book and start reading it. It will be a promise to yourself which you won’t break for some reasons or other. 

Make reading a habit like any other- Practice reading like this on a daily basis without any fail, you will soon realize that it has been transformed into a habit that you won’t like to skip.

Find a good place for reading- Like children; adults also need to have a particular place for reading. A cozy, comfortable place where you will not get interrupted by your family members or any noise. But that particular place should be at a handsome distance from your PC and the TV. The chance of getting distracted at that place should be zero. So, that you can concentrate on reading with a full mind.

Carry a book with yourself- Always put a book into your bag whenever you are going out of your house because it is the best way to pass your time. Suppose you have to wait for a client’s meeting or at a doctor’s chamber, then also you can whip out the book and read it.

Read books while traveling- If you are traveling by train for hours and hours then without plugging the earphones to overcome the boredom, read the book you are carrying with you and make the journey enjoyable and worth remembering. 

Keep and maintain a list of books you want to read- Maintain a list of the books that you want to read. You can manage this list both digitally and manually. But I personally prefer to maintain a journal where I write down the names of the books, I am interested in but haven’t started reading yet.

And once I am done with reading one of them out, I make sure to cross that book from my booklist. It’s definitely a very good practice to keep track of your reading and manage them accordingly.

Keep a log- It is quite similar to the previous point. Keeping a log means in spite of just writing the book’s name and the author’s name or publishers, also note down the dates you start them and finish them.

Set daily targets- This is another good way to read and finish the maximum number of books in a minimum time period. Decide and mark the number of pages you can complete reading a day according to your business. And whenever you will get a break or gaps from work read them then. You can also read your book during lunch breaks and tea breaks and this is how you can reach your target, settled by you for that day.

Cut off television time and reduce using the internet- This is one of the simple ways to increase your reading time. If you reduce your time on televisions and the internet, you will get more time to read your books. It might seem difficult at first but everything is a matter of practice. 

Start with small challenges- If you practice it slowly at a time, suppose, watching TV for less than 10 minutes from your regular watch time or turning off mobile data for 10 more minutes, you will definitely reach your target within a short period of time.

Go to reselling book shops- You won’t find affording books difficult if you start visiting a reselling book shop. These are those kinds of shops where people buy and sell used books, therefore, they get a handsome discount on purchasing books from there. So, visit such shops and make your reading enjoyable yet profitable by applying those skims.

Gain interest in reading- Gaining interest is the most important and fundamental tool to practice good reading habits. Once you gain interest in reading, it will take you to the next level. But the most important part is gaining that interest.

Some of the people often lose their interests even before starting reading properly and this is also due to some common mistakes made by them. Don’t fall into that category. 

Get aware of the common mistakes done while practicing reading- The first mistake is irregular reading. Irregular reading means if you start reading something but do not end it, with the course of time you will forget what you have read and lose your interest gradually. 

Never read a book just because someone recommended it- Another very common mistake is reading a random book. Don’t just pick a bestseller or so-called good book, everyone’s taste and preference are different. You might not like a book which is famous as a bestseller of any particular year.

Do not just read anything- Once you start disliking it you might get demotivated from within as you are a beginner in this field. So, avoid such mistakes and discover the fun fact about reading. 

Ending it on a note of W. Somerset Maugham which says,

“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.”

Most successful people acknowledged the fact that how reading helped them throughout their career. Cultivating the habit of reading is not that difficult how it feels so. Start once and then just watch where it will take to and you will observe the difference in a few years

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