If you want to raise strong readers, here are four things you want to avoid:

Environment Matters

Don’t raise your child in a literature-starved environment. Raise your children with role models who are reading such as yourself and your spouse. Make sure the older children model reading for the younger children.

Children will learn to love the things we love; show your kids that you love books! If you don’t love books,

Avoid Early Screen Use

Keep your children off of screens until they develop a strong reading habit. This includes television too.

Screens have a magnetic pull on our children's time and attention as they do on ours. It's difficult for us to pull away, and it's impossible for our children. Children are exposed to multimedia too soon, and they develop a screen habit before they they have the chance to develop a good reading habit.

Avoid Early Reading

When children are taught to read too early, as they are in most schools today, it can become frustrating and, in some cases, even a humiliating experience. Before they have a chance to fall in love with reading, they’ve learned to hate it.

The solution is easy; teach them when they are developmentally ready to read which will be different for each child.

Too Simple Literature

Avoid giving your children predominantly simple and silly literature to read, because they will struggle to read a serious book later.

To read a challenging book requires a larger vocabulary, the ability to focus on longer sentences and paragraphs, and a desire to keep reading in spite of no page-turning passages at the end of each chapter.

The latter are skills that cannot be developed by books that are too easy to read. Reading is an active skill and the right kind of books will challenge and develop your child’s mind.

When choosing books for your children to read, make sure you know the difference between a book worth reading and one that’s not.

As children come into adulthood, they’re cut off from our rich cultural heritage simply because they never learned how to read well and to enjoy reading.

Teaching a child to read then should be treated with the utmost care and understanding. It is both a science and an art. It's not difficult to learn how to teach a child to read, and we would do well to become familiar with the simple steps to literacy.

Teach your children to read at the optimal age; provide them with quality literature, model reading in your home, and your children will be way ahead of the majority of Americans today; 54% who can no longer read above a sixth-grade level.

Don’t miss our free download: Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.

Would you like to teach your child to read? Learn more about Elizabeth's unique course, How to Teach Your Child to Read and Raise a Child Who Loves to Read.

When you join the Smart Homeschooler Academy online course for parents, Elizabeth will guide you in homeschooling with the classics for superior intellectual and character development.

As a homeschooler, you will feel confident knowing you have the guidance and support you need to homeschool successfully.

For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with Elizabeth’s original online course, Raise Your Child to Thrive in Life and Excel in Learning.

Elizabeth Y. Hanson is a homeschooling thought-leader and the founder of Smart Homeschooler.

As an Educator, Homeschool Emerita, Writer, and Love and Leadership Certified Parenting Coach, Elizabeth has 21+ years of experience working in education.

She has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, and she devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.

Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.