Reading quiz – are you teaching your child to love reading?

So, you’re reading to your child, and you’re creating an environment for them to learn, develop and love reading. Or are you? Take a look at the list below – if you can say you’re doing most of them, well then you’re doing just fine. If not, well now you have a handy list to work from. There is nothing difficult about teaching your child to love reading - it just take a bit of organising.

Everyone reads with my child - mum, dad, grandparents, aunties and uncles. Grandparents and other relatives are fantastic for telling my child stories of when they / we were younger.
We don’t have long periods of reading with my child, so that we can keep her interested
When reading, I will often point to the words as I read them, so she understands how the words and sounds are connected
Books are a regular past time in our house instead of switching on the television. We read whenever we have free time
My child has lots of different books that are all stored in their bookcase in her room. She knows and understands that she must treat her books very carefully
We often visit the library and I will discuss the age appropriate books with the librarian and / or other parents.
Reading forms a part of our daily routine for everyone in the house – mum and dad read books, letters, newspapers etc and I read with my child on a daily basis during the day and at night
Books are always received as a gift in our house – some of part thereof. We encourage giving books as gifts also. A present doesn’t always need to be a toy.
We always write thank you notes for the gifts we receive, and I encourage my child to make her own and we send that too.
We have letter magnets on our fridge, and I encourage my child to play with them, we often put new word in there such as mum, dad and names too.
I don't mind if my child wants to read a comic book, but they aren't the only thing we read.
When we read with my child it is with happy enthusiasm. It’s not considered a chore. And I never get bored reading the same book with my child time and again as this is important (it’s also incredibly sweet when she finishes the sentences for me. Or when she tells me what’s going to happen by pointing to images of the characters)
When I am reading with my child, we snuggle up together, this is how I remember reading with my mum. We are careful with our books, and she knows and understands the process of page turning and being careful with our books
When reading with my child, we always talk about the story, the images, the characters and the messages and morals in the story.
We read lots of different types of stories fairy tales, funny stories, rhyming stores, mysteries and adventures.
When we are on car journeys or in a waiting room, I discuss the books we are reading with my child and encourage her to tell me the story.
If we are going on a long car journey we always have audio books with us.