“Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” – 1 Timothy 4:13 NKJV
“Readers are leaders and leaders are readers. If you stop reading, then you stop reading.” – Anonymous
Parents care about their kids’ education. Parents also know intuitively that reading is central to a good education. Unfortunately, parents oftentimes struggle with getting their kids to enjoy reading though. Many parents underestimate the sway of tremendous influence they wield over their kids especially when it comes to reading. Parents should especially pray that God’s Spirit would ignite a hunger, thirst, and passion for reading in the hearts of their kids. Parents who intentionally cultivate this kind of “forward-leaning mind” in their kids are giving them something greater than merely being literate. By the grace of God, this is really about the spiritual discipline and heart-level devotion of being a life-long learner through the means of robust printed literature to the praise of His glory in Christ Jesus.
For me personally, the value of reading was impressed upon me back when I was a boy in the 80s and early 90s as my dad paid me “a penny a page” to read books. Even though my book selection left substantial room for improvement, besides the reason why money “burned a hole in my pocket”, the habit of reading books did something that I did not necessarily understand at the time. Looking back, I’m grateful for Dad’s standing offer along with the advice that books written before the upheaval of the 1960s were better than otherwise. Years later, my faculties of discernment got much better and the mere habit of reading was intentionally cultivated into a spiritual discipline, by the grace of God and for His glory alone.
Parents must be intensely intentional and therefore counter culturally radical when it comes to fueling the God-given hunger to learn that has been built into the hearts of their children. As a deliberate means to equip parents in doing so, here’s “My Top 10 List for How to Teach Your Kids to Love Reading Books.”
- Lead the way by loving to read books yourself.
- The demonstrated example of parents carries an immense amount of weight with our children and is more influential than many understand. Far too many parents underestimate their influence upon their kids because of being programmed into a school of thought that says otherwise. Early childhood development “experts” are the elites who supposedly possess more know how and therefore influence upon our children than dad and mom. Perish the thought!
2. Read aloud to your kids in utereo, once they’re born, and throughout the years.
- Throughout Holy Scripture, parents, especially dads, are instructed to verbally communicate the all-glorious truths of who GOD is and what He has done in history to our children and grandchildren. If we neglect to do so, such dereliction of duty will set the stage for the rebel hearts of our children to forget the majesty of Him and grace of Him who is worthy of all praise. Scientific research is definitively clear regarding the benefits of reading aloud to our children including cognitive development, neurological plasticity, precious memories, and emotional connection at the level of the heart. Make time for it and just do it!
3. Teach your children to read ASAP.
- Parents should teach their children how to read on their very own as soon as they are able to do so. Children are capable of far more than we often give them credit for and learning how to read much sooner than otherwise is a case in point example. So-called educational experts from the institutional regime are not necessary for the vast majority, if not all, of learning than transpires in early childhood. Take ownership of your parental responsibility and teach your kids how to read sooner rather than later so that they can embark upon this life-long adventure to the praise of God’s glory in Christ Jesus. Just teach your kids to read!
4. Give them books for birthdays, Christmas, and other special occasions.
- Capitalize on special days in the lives of your children by giving them great books. These gifts could be read now or perhaps later as their hearts and minds exponentially grow in the formative years of their lives. Cheap plastic toys from China are a “dime-a-dozen” but heirloom quality literary gems will be bequeathed to your grandchildren and great grandchildren after you have passed from this life into eternity. Just give your kids some good books!
To be continued…
