Let`s take a look at the pros and cons of each age group.

Early Readers (3-5 years)

Pros:

Kids this age are already in super learning mode and may pick up new things faster than older kids.

They will have a head start on other kids going into the school years.

Reading isn`t looked at as a chore at this age, but something fun.

Cons:

Young children rarely have the attention span to sit and study something as complicated as reading.

Very small children will still be learning normal speech and it may confuse issues to start working on reading skills.

It`s easy for parents to push too much at this stage, wanting their child to be a genius.

School Age Readers (5-6 years)

Pros:

At this age, most children are considered to be developed enough to understand the concept of reading.

Writing can also be integrated, making it easier to learn reading at the same time.

School books and readers are usually geared to this age group.

Cons:

Some children may not be ready to read at this age.

Reading might be looked at as a chore, since it is part of school, particularly if the child has a dislike of all things scholarly.

Late Readers (7+ years)

Pros:

Leaving reading until the child decides he wants to learn means he will be more dedicated to the task.

Reading will take on more meaning when the child finds that she cannot do some things without knowing how to read.

Cons:

Delayed reading can hold up other areas of education.

The child will be far behind his peers, though late readers do tend to catch up fairly quickly.

It can send the signal that reading and writing are not important skills.

In the end, it all comes down to what is best for you and your family. Look at your kids. Are they interested in reading? Can they speak clearly? Are they taking an interest in letters or trying to read on their own? Then you might need to start teaching that skill soon.

For example, my 3 1/2 year old, Dorian, has been sounding out letters on his own and asking what sounds different letters make, so we`ve started working on some very simple lessons from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Would I recommend this to all parents? No, because each child is different and you need to make the decision yourself based on their level of interest and abilities.

The first thing to remember is that anything a child is forced to do is probably going to end up on his “not interested” list and reading tends to be something that we parents push. By letting reading be something fun and non-stressful, you`ll find that your child is far more interested.

1. Read to your kids. The number one best way to get your kids interested in reading for fun is to read to them. Pick up a fun chapter book and start reading a chapter a day with them. Good books to start with include Beverly Cleary`s Ramona series for younger kids, C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicle of Narnia for slightly older (from 2nd grade onward), and John White´s Archives of Anthropos series. All are excellent, entertaining and draw the child into the story. Then, leave them hanging. If you read a chapter book, you`ll notice that most chapters end with a cliffhanger. Stop right there and leave the book in a convenient place. Ten to one, at some point, your kids will start sneaking looks at the book!
2. Give them a reason to read. If a child has no good reason to start reading, he probably won´t bother. With my tutored students, I used to brainstorm reasons with them. Things like reading a map while traveling, figuring out where in the world you want to go, reading street signs, etc. Baking cookies or making pizza is a great way to prove that there is a good reason to cook . . . have the child read the recipe!
3. Make it interesting and fun. When reading is only something you do while sitting at the kitchen table with a dull school book, why would you bother reading for fun? In fact, reading might not seem like anything fun, at all, more of a chore! You can have a lot of fun with it though. Try the recipe idea above, or write out a scavenger hunt list, create a treasure hunt with written clues, or write out a Monster Menu (what they´d serve in a Monster restaurant) or a Fairy Menu, for a less gross version.

Do you have any tips for getting kids to enjoy reading? Share them in the comments.

Read to Them

Even infants love books. They enjoy the bright pictures and while a baby might chew on a book more often than she looks at the words, it`s all part of becoming familiar with the concept.

Bedtime stories are a fun way to create a routine and instill an interest in books, but that shouldn’t be the only time you read to your children. Stopping for a story while dinner is in the oven or making time to read a short article together during a break is a very good way to incorporate reading into their everyday lives.

Read Yourself

Seeing Mom and Dad read will make your younger children want to try it, too. My sons frequently sprawl on the floor with their father and “read” the newspaper with him, or snuggle up next to me on the couch while I flip through a magazine . . . they bring their own kid-friendly reading materials and we all enjoy some quiet reading time together.

Point Out the Usefulness

We use reading skills every day and letting children know that will tend to get them more interested in the idea of reading. Show them how you read the recipe for making a cake, point out the labels on food, and let them know that your notes help you remember what you were going to do today.

Early reading with your child helps establish some basic concepts long before your little one is actually ready to sit down and read. These include:

• Reading is left to right
• We start at the beginning of a book and move sequentially through the pages
• Letters make words and words tell us stories
• The print on a page relates to the picture

If you aren`t reading much to your children yet because you feel they are too young, know that now is the perfect time to establish a love of reading and you`ll reap the results later when they are ready to start studying.