As your children grow up and enter their secondary school years, you may find that you have less time to spend together. With more homework, enrichment classes and the stress of academic achievement, most children have little time to spare for leisure or family time.

One leisure activity which is easy to fit into a secondary schooler’s lifestyle is reading! This is probably something which you did together when your children were young, but as they grew older, and learned to read for themselves, this might have become an independent activity.

Reconnect with your teens through reading by giving them the resources to read more widely and by reading up on the same subjects or authors which interest them and discussing your learnings and interpretations of what you have read together.

Go Online

Cater to their lifestyles by providing them with online reading sources. Secondary school children spend a fair amount of time online working on homework as well as for entertainment. Secondary schools often require many assignments to be completed and submitted online, so internet access at home has become important. 

Subscribe to an online magazine which your teenager is interested in. Magazine articles are short and fun to read and fit in easily into hectic school schedules. A magazine subscription will ensure that your teen has something new to read monthly and will encourage them to branch out for more reading fun.

Or consider investing in a digital reader such as a tablet which will allow your teen to check out e-books from the library and will encourage them to read more widely without the hassle of having to make frequent trips to the library.

Read the Papers Together

Make it a family habit to read the newspaper. Once children hit the teens, they become more interested in current events. After dinner each day, sit down with them to chat about various social issues locally and globally. These discussions also help hone their critical thinking skills for several classes at school such as history, geography and social studies.

Read the Same Books

Reach out to them by reading some books written for teens. Young adult novel can give you valuable insights into the concerns and pressures felt by teens. You may find that these books provide a neutral ground on which to talk about sensitive subjects.

Bonding over reading is a potentially nurturing, eye-opening and altogether insightful encounter with your teen.