“Abook can’t change the world on its own. But a book can change readers. And readers? They can change the world.” ― Sarah Mackenzie, The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids.
As homeschool moms, we desire to see our children become world changers and be inspired by the books they read. But if the love of reading is not high on your teen’s priority list, here are seven ways to motivate them to read and foster a passion for books.
Set Up a Book Club Among Students
Homeschooled students can sometimes feel a disconnect between themselves and their community. Setting up a book club in your neighborhood can give your child an interactive environment to inspire a love of reading.
Help Them to Discover their Favorite Genres
Some teens do not like to read because they have not been motivated by a genre they enjoy. Take your teen to a bookstore or library and let them browse the shelves for various books they may like to read. It gets them out of the house, and it is much more fun than scrolling the internet for books.
Turn Reading into a Game
Let your teen know that as soon as they read at least one book per month for a designated number of months, they will receive a reward of their choice. Some of these rewards could include going out to dinner to their favorite restaurant, doing their favorite activity with a group of friends, or even purchasing an item they have been wanting.
Read Aloud
Children are never too old to be read to aloud. It is a beneficial way to pique your teen’s interest and motivate them to read independently. Using audiobooks is another option.
Change the Scenery
When planning a field trip or vacation, let your teen know that if they read a book about a specific area, you will travel there as a family to visit the location in person. Connecting reading with the real world can help children learn to explore the world through reading.
Give Them Praise for Reaching their Goals
Always tell your child how great of a job they are doing when they reach their reading goals. Some positive goals could be when they achieve a new reading difficulty level or read a specific number of pages, or even if they finally reach one book a month for their entire school year. Motivation comes from getting recognition when you are meeting or exceeding expectations.
One last thing to consider. Motivating your teen to read a book a month starts with you. Inspiring the love of reading can be modeled by joining this challenge and finding books that you enjoy reading as well.
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