Huntsville's Promise
Our Children Our Future
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Asset #25 Reading for pleasure- Young person reads for pleasure three or more hours per week. Fact: All young people need assets. While it is crucial to pay special attention to those who have the least, (economically or emotionally) ALL children and adolescents will benefit from having more assets than they have now. Asset development requires consistent, positive messages about what is important. It is important to encourage young people to read for pleasure three or more hours per week. Having good reading habits will benefit a child throughout the school years. Never make fun of a child’s reading level or skills. Those words stay with them forever and can turn their confidence level upside down. Reading for pleasure will allow a child’s imagination to develop. They will discover new worlds and increase their vocabulary. Take your children to the library one day a week so they can stock up on books they find interesting and want to read. Choose books that are in a series so that once one book is completed the natural reaction is to go on and continue reading more until the series is complete. Some classic examples are the Harry Potter books, Baby-sitters Club, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Read as a family so that the young children see that their parents enjoy reading for pleasure as well. Take advantage of the summer months. Have a designated reading time for the kids and record how many books they successfully completed in one summer. Reward them in some way after each book is read. Soon a reward will not be necessary; reading will become a daily activity they want to do. Recommendation as a family: Read together and take time to share what each member of the family is reading. Provide a comfortable well-lit area for reading. Take advantage of the summer reading program at Huntsville Public Library. Children can earn a T-shirt, a certificate or even a medal for participating in the Texas Reading Club. Also, stop by on a Monday evening. The Huntsville Public Library is participating in the Monday Night is Family Night Initiative. Stop by and check out a book, and call in an order for a pizza while you’re there. Recommendation as a community- Have a community book club for the young people of the community. Announce a book of the month and try to set up a time and place to discuss the book. Invite the author if at all possible to attend. Provide incentives for reading. Please call Huntsville’s Promise if you have other ideas to help develop this asset. We will be sure to share. |
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