I don't want to brag  , OK, maybe I do want to a little. I have two very smart daughters. My oldest is 7 and she is one of the best students in her second grade class and my youngest, who is 2, is learning new things every day. When it comes to their cleverness, I believe this is because they love reading. When my wife and I first became parents, we were told by a number of people that the best thing we could do for our kids was to encourage them to read. However, with things like television and video games out there, we found it was sometimes hard to make books seem more interesting. But, we succeeded with both of them by doing a few different things. One of the first things we did was reading to them. My youngest daughter can't read books herself yet. But, I also take the time to read to my oldest daughter, too. Not only is this a great way to _ and make them like you, it also introduces them to a world that they might not realize. One thing I recommend is making sure you plan first so you have plenty of time to read more than one book if they want it. This allows you to read their favorite stories while mixing in something new, too. Another thing I started doing with my oldest daughter is having her read to her younger sister. This makes her practice reading out loud something she gets to do at school and loves to and I've noticed my 2-year-old seems to pay closer attention to the stories for some reason. The second thing we do with our kids is we challenge them to read outside their level. I have given my oldest daughter books that are a little more complicated  . I do this so she doesn't get bored with "kids" books. For example, the other day, I had her try to read a Sherlock Holmes story. It was a bit hard. But, she understood it enough and she wanted to read it again with my help. I also encourage her to read newspapers and magazines. I do the same thing when I read to my youngest daughter and will sometimes borrow one of her sister's books. So far, she's still paying attention when I read them. Third, and most important, I let them be kids and consider their interests. Reading is a great thing. But, you can get too much of a great thing, too. I let them mix in television, video games, etc. This keeps reading a bit more exciting for them because they like reading the books that they want to rather than think I'm forcing them to read instead of letting them do other things. What makes the writer feel difficult is   _  .
how his children improve their reading and writing that his youngest daughter can't read books how to keep TV and video from disturbing his children how he finds interesting and good books for his kids