If you’re reading this, chances are you are already a reader and already know you should be reading to your kids often and early! While most of us incorporate reading into naps and bedtime routines, any time is a good time to read to your child.

But what happens when your child learns to read by themselves?

How can you continue to enhance this incredibly important activity AND making reading and learning fun?

The trick,  I’ve found, is to find ways that works with your own Parenting Personality – and your kids’ personalities:  an approach or activity that truly is fun, and not just a duty, for you and your kids.

One wonderful way is to reverse the roles and have your son or daughter read to you.  Then ask them about what you just heard together: what they think of the book’s characters, for instance, or if there was anything in the book they didn’t know about before. Or try acting out some of the characters with them using funny voices; whatever suits you and makes it fun.

In my pediatric practice, I met one creative mother who had her child try to stump her every day with a new vocabulary word. She discovered that it encouraged her daughter to scour reading material beyond her childrens’ books to hunt for new words. She laughingly told me about her young daughter studying a cook book to find new words and expressions! Not traditional, but a great way to let kids discover not only new words, but new sources of information too. And who knows, maybe that little girl will be a famous chef one day!

Another family I know created a tradition called Fun Fact Friday. Every Friday, each family member had to find an interesting fact to share at the dinner table. Then they all voted on who had found the most interesting – or useful – piece of knowledge and the winner got a $5 bill. They told me that the competition got very spirited and intense. In fact, one Friday night their 10 year old daughter brought her lap-top to dinner with a multi-media presentation. (Yes, her fact won that week!)

Let your child see how education is important to you. That doesn’t mean you have to have a wall full of diplomas. Instead, let your kids see you enjoying a good book or an interesting article and talk to them about what you’re reading.  Consider taking an on-line course in a subject that interests you, so your kids can see that education never stops!

And most importantly: stay curious. Don’t let the 4-year olds be the only ones who ask “why.” As a pediatrician, I discovered both kids and parents were at times shy about asking things.  Let your kids know that even more important than knowing things is knowing how to learn things you want to know!

And finally, make sure your kids know that you think it’s cool to read and cool to be smart. Instead of giving in to a culture that tends to give athletes or entertainers all the accolades, let kids know about the writers,  the teachers, the scientists, and the people who have mastered tough jobs that you admire. I know one Mom who likes to model that by asking people –  from the electrician fixing the house wiring to her son’s barber to the family doctor – how they learned to do what they do. It’s a great lesson for her young son – both seeing his mother’s curiosity, and learning how people learn their professions and crafts.

Have you found a way to use your own Parenting Personality to make reading and learning fun in a special way? Would love to hear about it!