However, our knowledge of the importance of reading does not necessarily mean that it will become part of the daily life of the family. From a behavioral perspective, some of this gap can be understood by looking at parents and children together. Parents may want to read to their children and recognize its importance, but this desire conflicts with being busy with work, fatigue, daily responsibilities, and procrastination, while the child sees the matter differently. They are not thinking about the educational benefits they may gain years later, but rather about enjoying the experience now. Therefore, encouraging reading is linked to two complementary aspects: parents finding what makes it part of their life with the child, and the child finding what motivates them to look forward to the experience and the desire to repeat it.
From here, it is important not to present reading to parents as an additional educational duty towards their children only, as its value also appears in the moment that brings them together with the child. The story opens up a space to get closer to what goes on in the child's awareness, and gives parents a chance to listen to their questions, observe their reactions, and the way they understand events and characters. These moments may reveal what excites their curiosity, what occupies their thinking, what makes them happy or anxious, and how they see the world around them. When reading becomes a shared experience, its value is no longer linked only to what it may add to the child's education in the future, but to what it adds to the relationship with them in the present.
As for the child, the challenge is different, as reading requires something that grabs their attention and makes them want to return to it. Giving them space to choose and participate, and arousing their curiosity to find out what will happen next makes the experience more exciting. Here, the elements of the experience can also be utilized, such as the feeling of progress and achievement, or embarking on a journey that evolves with continued reading, or participating in collective challenges, so that reading becomes an experience that the child looks forward to completing, not just an activity they practice because adults tell them it is good for them.
The surrounding environment can enhance these efforts by taking advantage of the impact of social norms. When a child sees reading present around them, and parents see other families making reading for their children a part of their daily life, reading becomes more present as a familiar practice in society. Community initiatives can enhance this sense of participation and make reading more present and widespread. Also, the way families involve children in reading should take into account the child's age. In early childhood, health institutions can be an important point of contact to reach parents when the child's growth and development is at the core of their concern. Nurseries and kindergartens can play a similar role where available, while the role of public schools and libraries increases with the child's age to form a more independent relationship with reading.
Encouraging children to read requires more than just providing reading materials or talking about its educational importance. It requires understanding what makes the experience meaningful for parents, what makes the child want to return to it, and how the surrounding environment can make reading more present and continuous. The goal is not just to raise children who know how to read, but to build a relationship with reading that becomes part of their way of learning, imagining, communicating, and understanding the world around them.
