How do I get my children to be readers?

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I'm not a reader myself, probably read a dozen books in my life. DH better in his youth but never reads now - just watches telly or gaming in his chill time (We are educated but maths/science degrees).

DC are 3 and 5. I want them to be better than us! DD5 is just learning to read but she's not that keen, she always wants 'easy ones', but we read together at bed time daily. DS3 shows more interest in books but obviously can't read yet. But we read together every night and he finishes the sentences etc.

Is there anything else we should do? Should we be reading in our free time to set a good example?

Read to them daily and talk about the books you are reading to them. Have books in your home. Yes, try to read more yourselves too. Take them to book shops or a library to choose their own books. I'm a big reader and still struggle with getting my kids to read much and try are 15 and 12. Also, it doesn't have to be fiction, it can be fact books, for example Guinness book of world records is great, picture books also. Comics too. Find what interests them. Good luck 😉

Read to them, be seen reading, read to them more. Find/hunt out books they like & don’t disapprove of what books they like - all reading is good!
Comic books, magazines, DND manuals - whatever works!

Try lots of differmt books. My reluctant readers became complete book worms after they discovered what ype of books they liked

Sci fi
Fact books
Choose your own ending
Anything with an animal
Silly tales of hijinks at school

The difficulty of the book doesnt matter so much as the fact that they are enjoying it. I also looked for series so there was always a next one to read

Mine made the switch from about 7 yrs old to 9 yrs old

It sounds like you are doing alright. Just read to them and read with them, they'll recognise the words and learn to write them too.

I don't read much now but I was a bookworm when I was a child.
My role model was my mum who had her head permanently in a book. We went to the library at least twice a week.
Set an example and read, read, read.

Don't worry if they don't follow your lead though - one of my DC's wouldn't read no matter how hard I tried. Despite all her protestations she still managed to get an A* for A Level English Lit. She is now a writer - she tells me that she finds reading other peoples words boring and much prefers to write her own

I don't think you can to be honest. I am an avid reader, always read, have hundreds of books in my house, read books to DS from when he was tiny. But DS doesn't like reading, he enjoys listening to a story but he'd never pick up a book and read it himself (he's 7). I don't see the point in forcing it on him.

They need to see you and their other parent reading, books and magazines need to be part of their environment. Get them hooked on stories by reading high quality, well written books to them daily, several times a day if possible.
There's no reason why your 3yo shouldn't learn to read if they're interested.

Read to them lots.

DS6 has come on since we set aside time for him to read to himself after his bedtime story.

Cartoons are good (e.g. the Beano annual).

Read to them every bedtime. Go to the library and the bookshop.

I never understand how children can see parents reading their own book, mine are always fighting so I can't relax. We do get newspapers delivered through which we look through at the dining table together.

The best present I got when my first baby was born was a small basket my friend had filled with excellent-condition classic kids’ books she’d been buying from charity shops throughout my pregnancy. Each Peach Pear Plum, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Mr Men, The Gruffalo, nursery rhymes, some Dr Seuss...I left the basket downstairs and read to DS from tiny babyhood, he would always ask to be read to. He was fluent by the time he started school, and loves reading now at 6 - like me he seems to prefer non-fiction, and enjoys fact books or encyclopaedias.

DD isn’t as interested in books, she’s 3 and has always been more interested in toys and creative play than DS was. We do still read every day (and always at bedtime) but she doesn’t bring me books to read constantly like DS did.

Enforce strict control around screens!
Too late for me now but I wish that I had done this!

I am a reader with 2 or 3 books on the go at any one time, house has lots and lots of books - childrens and adults, DCs were library members and I read to my children every day when they were small.

And yet, none of them are readers.

🤦‍♂️

Be open minded about what you consider to be a book. Two of mine had difficulties reading but using audio books they are still able to love stories and develop their comprehension skills, ability to escape into a different world and imagination. Sometimes that will lead onto a love of physical books too, sometimes it won't but don't get too hung up on the physical act of reading.

I second the screen thing. When there is an option between screen and books especially in the early days hand them a book.
Take books everywhere. I always have a few in my bag. In a restaurant if you want them to be quiet, give them a book. On trains and planes I hand them books first. Mine sometimes read at the table while eating breakfast (not ideal when I am in a rush). Normalise reading. We have family reading time on weekends. Everyone under blankets with tea or not chocolate.
Of course read, read, read to them. I found that when they started reading I would get them to read the harder books with me and I kept a stack of ‘easy’ books for independent reading and family reading time, to build up confidence.
Let children get bored. Don’t entertain them always. If they say they are bored, tell them to go and read. Making reading the default option for everything.
Don’t police what they read too much. If they want to read hard stuff, let them. If they want to read easy stuff, let them. (Read read read everything as per Faulkner). If they go through a non fiction phase, so be it.
DH and I both read a lot, and we have thousands of books- but even if you don’t, just keep exposing them to books and it will develop.

Agree with let them read any type of book. I have a keen reader aged 9 and she'll still read picture books sometimes. Also has a comic delivered weekly, which she loves.

We treat reading like a leisure activity so for example if we're having a day at home we might just read together for half an hour. Reading is not just for bedtime.

Ime, you need to show an example of loving reading. Otherwise they will feel you are just making them read or reading to them because it's a school thing.

Do you have bookshelves with books in them? You need to make books part of the fabric of your home and reading part of the family culture.

Keep them off of screens.

The reason they are not reader is because you are not a reader, children follow examples.

I agree let them get bored and leave plenty of varied reading material around for them to discover. Dd1 picked up her first chapter book (Mummy Fairy and me by Sophie kinsella so hardly highbrow!!) in the summer holidays after reception and read the whole thing in one go. She’s not stopped since. We visit charity shops very regularly and I let them choose whatever they like. At 3 for £1 it’s manageable on the wallet.

A few things:

• read to them (you're doing that already)

-ask your DH if he could read to them too (I seem to remember there's studies saying this is quite important if you have boys)

• have books around the house, of all kinds (fiction, non-fiction, with pictures, with words, comic books, classics, modern stuff, serious stuff, funny stuff, hard cover, magazines, for very young readers, for older kids, for grown ups, etc.), with their own dedicated spaces (e.g. books shelves, magazine rack, etc.), to make them both accessible, and important looking (make sure they get treated with respect)
• limit other distractions (in particular, screen time)
• let them enjoy books on their own (including the younger one: they can just look at the pictures, or the older one could read to the younger one)
• get them new (can be second hand!) reading material as a treat
• start reading as well, for yourself. You're on Mumsnet, so clearly you read already (the Internet does count as reading!). You need to understand "reading for pleasure" if you want to promote it. You can start with blogs, e books, etc. (something you can read on a phone/tablet)

By the way...
We are educated but maths/science degrees
This made me sad. Me and DH could say the same about ourselves, but our house in covered in books.
Yet I do know that among maths/science graduates, poor interest in literacy isn't unusual. Very strange how some humans really take to books (we watch telly and play video games too!) while others don't.

Another one to say boredom. If kids are bored enough they will read the dictionary, let alone the interesting and fun books available to them. This necessarily involves limiting/eliminating screens, including TV. Not forever, just until they have figured out that reading can be entertaining rather than something associated with schoolwork.

DD5 is just learning to read but she's not that keen, she always wants 'easy ones'

learning to read is hard, imagine it from a child's point of view, if I drew you a triangle and told you it had a certain sound, then a rectangle, then a square etc reading is hard when you have to decode all the letter sounds. Always read to them at night as part of the bedtime routine.

Read to them, be seen reading, have books available to be picked up and as they get a bit older ask them questions, reading is not enough really, it is the comprehension and learning from that. So in a story you'd read Martha pushes Jessica and she lands on her bottom in a dirty puddle. You then ask how do you think Jessica feels? Also what about Martha? You spell it out to her, well Jessica will be wet and it might be cold, Martha could feel proud of herself or very sad that she didn't intend for Jessica to fall over.

My friend had a policy that her children had to read for 20 minutes before going in front of a screen.

I don't think you can make them. I was a voracious reader as a child, my sister hated reading.

I now have identical twins one will read for pleasure, the other one makes a drama out of reading the core books for their age group.

I recommend adding quiet /reading to your routine on weekends and holidays. We read regularly after lunch for an hour or so in our bedrooms independently. As well as bedtime stories, going to the library and creating a reading nook. Nothing too fancy, it could just be some cushions with boxes of books around. Place books around your house eg kitchen, landing,... everywhere.