From Screen Time to Story Time: Navigating Digital Reading with BookSmart’s Parent Features
Find out why BookSmart is a fun, safe, reliable reading partner for parents and discover strategies for reading at home with your child.
In today’s digital age, children are often drawn to screens for entertainment and learning. It’s only natural for parents to have concerns about the amount of time children spend on devices and the content they consume.
At Worldreader, we asked ourselves a bold question: what if we turned the age of screens into the age of reading?
BookSmart is our free reading experience app that helps families build a daily habit of reading. With thousands of age and culturally-appropriate books, parent tools and tips, fun learning activities, quizzes, and more, BookSmart is designed to be a parent’s trusted reading partner.
Keep reading to learn how to make the most of BookSmart and leverage technology to help your young dreamer become a strong reader.
Reasons to Read as a Family
A child’s love of reading starts at home. Reading together as a family not only strengthens bonds but also cultivates a lifelong love for literature in children. It provides an opportunity for meaningful interactions, discussions, and shared experiences.
Moreover, family reading enhances children’s vocabulary and language skills, fosters empathy and emotional intelligence, and promotes critical thinking. Did you know that children who read regularly have greater success in school and life and show stronger emotional intelligence? Reading is a lifelong gift!
With BookSmart, you can access thousands of books with the touch of a finger. You can download the app on your phone in seconds and carry a world of stories in your pocket to share with your family anytime, anywhere. Plus, your child will love its interactive reading activities and reading challenges, making it easy to make reading part of your daily routine.
➤ Thoughts from Worldreader’s CEO: Mobilizing Home-Based, Family-Centered Literacy Initiatives – A Global Imperative for Societal Progress
BookSmart Reading App: Parent Features
We understand the importance of empowering parents to guide their children’s digital reading experience. With its array of parent features, BookSmart ensures a safe and enriching environment for young readers:
- Profile management: BookSmart allows parents to set up multiple profiles for their children and family members. Readers can explore books individually or Read Together while tracking the reading progress of each child.
- Content control: Parents can customize their kids’ reading experience when they set up each child’s profile – their age bracket can be used to help recommend appropriately-leveled reading materials from our curated digital library. This feature ensures that children are exposed to content that aligns with their developmental stage and interests.
- Progress tracking: Through BookSmart’s progress tracking feature, parents can monitor their child’s reading journey. This insight enables parents to set up goals with their children, celebrate milestones, identify areas for improvement, and provide targeted support as needed.
- Tailored experience: We designed BookSmart to be accessible and customizable. Readers can select their language and age group, and change a book’s font, font size, line spacing, and contrast to make the reading experience as friendly as possible.
- Family motivation: Reading is a family affair on BookSmart. Reach your weekly Reading Goals with your kids, complete fun learning activities together, and Like a book you think they’ll love to add it to the My Library page. You can also share books with your loved ones outside of BookSmart.
Reading Tips for Parents
It’s easy to love reading with the fun characters, adventure-packed stories, and thought-provoking themes in our library. To make reading time even more special for your family, here are some of our favorite home reading tips for parents:
- Create a reading routine: Establish a regular reading routine as part of your daily or weekly schedule. Designate a cozy reading nook at home where family members can gather and immerse themselves in stories together.
- Engage in discussion: After reading a book, engage your child in meaningful discussions by asking open-ended questions about the characters, plot, and themes. Encourage critical thinking and empathy by exploring different perspectives and emotions.
- Model reading behavior: Set a positive example by demonstrating your own love for reading. Let your child see you enjoying books, magazines, or newspapers regularly. Children are more likely to develop a passion for reading when they see it valued by their parents.
- Encourage variety: Introduce a variety of reading materials, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and more. Allow your child to explore different genres and formats to discover what resonates with them most. From outer space to friendship, BookSmart includes books on a variety of topics to captivate your child’s interest and spark their imagination – travel together to far-away worlds or read stories that feel like home!
- Be patient and supportive: Every child’s reading journey is unique. Be patient and supportive, offering encouragement and praise along the way. Celebrate small victories and milestones, and provide gentle guidance when needed.
Loving these ideas? Read home reading tips from teachers using BookSmart.
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