The commercials for TBS's Thursday night sitcom “The Bill Engvall Show” might not be that far off.
After being told to go to his room and not watch TV, the teenage son asks, “What are we supposed to do?”
“Read,” the mother barks.
“No, seriously,” the teen responds, looking confused. Cue laugh track.
But maybe it's no laughing matter.
According to the 2008 Kids and Family Reading Report by children's book publisher Scholastic, kids are reading less and less for fun. Also, while the study found that many kids are now reading for fun on the Internet, potentially taking time away from book reading, a high percentage of those kids are the ones who already read books for fun regularly.
Some of the study's other key findings:
Only one in four kids reads for fun daily. In the 2006 report, 3 out of 10 kids read for fun each day.
Twenty-two percent of kids rarely, if ever, read for fun.
Half of all kids think there just aren't any interesting books for them.
Emilia Komaromi, a reading specialist at Loudonville Elementary School in New York, said it's up to parents and educators to encourage kids to read more.
“They (kids) need to rediscover the enjoyment of reading,” Komaromi said. “It's something educators need to think about.”
According to the Scholastic study, 82 percent of parents wish their kid would read more for fun.
So what can parents do? Here are 10 quick tips:
1. Read to your kids. And don't stop once they no longer fit comfortably in your lap. Reading to children up through the seventh grade is beneficial, because kids are better able to understand the subject.
2. Praise your child for reading. “When they find success, they are more motivated to read again,” said Komaromi.
3. Find out what your kids are interested in, and help them find books that match up. If your child is going to sports camp this summer, get her a basketball book.
4. Factor reading time into your kids' schedules. The older kids get, the more distractions they have (social events, homework, activities, etc.), which makes it hard for kids to carve out reading time. Eighteen percent of respondents in the Scholastic study said they don't read for fun because they “don't have time to read.”
5. Help your child find a book series he or she enjoys. Now that Harry Potter is finished, this might be a little tougher, but book series help kids decide what to read next. If they like one book in a series, they'll probably like others.
6. Encourage kids to read at a young age, when they're most enthusiastic about reading. Help them make it a habit at a young age.
7. Set aside time yourself, and read in front of your kids. “Kids need to see that it is going on in the house,” Komaromi said.
8. Urge your kids to start a book club with friends. This will encourage them to read, and also to think about and discuss what they have read.
9. Stick them in the library. When they are surrounded by books, kids are likely to start reading.
10. Use a book list to help your child choose age-appropriate, interesting books. Most schools provide summer reading lists to students, or have them available on their Web sites.
