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Children ReadingHow to encourage, support and endorse children reading so that it becomes their passion? A large part of the key to this, is your attitude as parents towards books and reading.Recently I was in a coffee shop when a mother with her daughter, aged around 10, sat at the table next to mine.
What I found interesting was that on my last visit to the same coffee shop, I had watched a child sitting, with a very bored expression on his face, while his mother read a magazine and drank her co  ffee.
It seemed like such a wasted opportunity for this mother and son. He
was bored and she was absent and it could have been such a fun outing.Now I watched this mother, contentedly observing her child who was completely engaged with her book. The mother appeared to delight in her daughter's reading, and laughingly asked if it was ok for them to talk when the daughter reached the end of her chapter. Two very different attitudes are in play here - one parent delights in reading, the other uses it to alleviate boredom for herself. Which
attitude do you want to pass on to your children?
Childhood and Reading When I was a girl, my mother drove us to the library every second Friday, with a cardboard carton each to bring home our fortnight's worth of books. I still remember the feeling of searching for and finding more books to take home, and the excitement of spilling all the books out onto the floor and choosing which one to begin first.  Books were always the best gifts, but to receive a book voucher came a close second. Being able to choose my own books is still one of my greatest joys! Reading was a huge part of my childhood. My mother's attitude to reading was that it was a very special activity and so took precedence over many other things. For instance, if she called me to help with something, or if it was time to put the light out, she always told me to finish the chapter first. Books were cherished friends and time was always feely given if we were reading. Books were given as gifts, series were updated and reading in many different forms was encouraged. We were given comics, magazines and annuals for treats, and books were borrowed, loaned and treasured. We were taught to care for them both physically and emotionally, and conversations about characters and their adventures were always encouraged. My grandparents continuously praised me for being such an avid reader, and rewarded me with more and more good books to read. Your Attitude as Parents Your attitude to books and children reading is observed and imitated. If you find books comforting and enjoyable, if you read them, talk about them, purchase them, suggest titles, and make reading time available, then you are giving a strong message to your children that books are valuable and reading is fun.  The love of reading needs to be encouraged by parents. It takes time to learn to read fluently and easily, and time to keep up with reading. This precious time needs to be freely given. Encourage your children to find a particular series or author to explore. Try to have a book case in each child's room and encourage each child's individual style and taste of reading to evolve. The biggest NO! is a television in a child's bedroom. Research suggests that children who can go to their room to watch television are often more socially lazy than those  who watch in the
living room. Of course some television watching is both fun and
educational, but reading before sleep rather than TV should always be
encouraged. A BBC news item earlier in the year promoted children reading. "Reading, it said, was not just a joy, but a route out of poverty. It's also the benefits of reading. It's probably one of the best anti-poverty, anti-deprivation, anti-crime, anti-vandalism policies you can think of. Launching the nationwide campaign to get more adults and more children reading and enjoying books, a plea was made to parents to spend more time reading with their children." Children Reading BBC. 
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