Benefits of Online Book Clubs and How to Find Yours

Reading Time: 4 mins 46 secs

Local libraries, neighborhood bookstores, and many communities offer story time and book clubs for all ages. Many parent groups and afterschool programs host book clubs for engaging opportunities to read, craft, and share the love of reading. However, not all schedules allow in-person traditional book club or story time. Just as with adults, the opportunity to join book clubs has expanded with the flexibility offered by the Internet and virtual communities.

There are online book clubs for all levels of readers. Reading is an evolving skill, and the flexibility offered virtually allows for your reader to grow and explore at their own pace. Online book clubs are available for any budget, and there are free resources and platforms, as well as subscription models that will mail physical books and materials to your door.

Book clubs are valuable for all levels of readers.

Finding the right level for your child to encourage reading and comprehension development typically starts with age.

Pre-Reader – Pre-Reader book clubs focus on preschool-aged children and picture books. These book clubs have a high level of parental involvement and preparation. This is more of an inspirational book club where stories are presented with coordinated activities.

Elementary Reader – This group is as specified by age as the others are, but the rate at which they develop as readers can be rapid. Online Book Clubs offer this group a great opportunity to level up their reading challenges because the available resources are vast. Readers who consume and develop faster can easily find similarly interesting material at their advancing skill rate.

Tween Reader – While their reading advancement may not be as rapid as an elementary-aged reader; personal growth and independence evolves right before your eyes. Comprehension opportunities expand from related activities to a more traditional adult book club, like discussion guides, questionnaires, and the online features of message boards and social media engagement.

Advanced Reader – This is a gap group for all age-based book clubs. In the past, material for advanced readers was largely also more mature and may not be topics you want your child diving into just yet. Online Book Clubs allow you as the parent to seek out appropriate material that will challenge their learning and comprehension without exposure to attitudes and topics they may not be ready to handle.

Plot Twist! Other Benefits of Online Book Clubs

Connection to a Community – Where you live is not always representative of who you are. Online Book Clubs can help you find a community where you fit in. This is especially helpful for readers who don’t have the opportunity to put down roots in one place for too long or have multiple households.

Habits Develop Skills – Building habits around something they enjoy like authors, topics, and genres enhance comprehension skills and confidence. Critical thinking is developed through discussion and sharing of ideas and activities of the characters.

Learn About Other Cultures – Traveling and reading are undeniably the best two ways to explore cultures throughout the world; reading is the more accessible of the two, especially for children. Topics regarding people and regions are limitless. This is also a great opportunity to join book clubs based on your own cultural or religious heritage.

Make Their Own Schedule – Reading is an activity anyone can do at any time; however, the physical act of meeting up can be challenging with school schedules, parent schedules, and other activities. Virtual meetings, online discussion boards, and topic-based activities allow readers to engage on their own time.

Rewarding and Incentivizing Non-Readers – Not everyone enjoys reading as a form of entertainment. However, it is a skill that everyone needs. Reading to achieve milestones to win prizes may be the motivation needed to develop their vocabulary and critical thinking skills.

Finding the Right Book Club for Your Child:

Where do I start?

Finding your club can start with trusted sources such as parents, friends, teachers, the local library, and bookstores, or you can post and tag friends within your social network circle. You can also start with a simple search engine like Google — try searching “reading clubs for children online”.

Start your own! Be sure to consider your child’s interests, your motivation, and what you both want to accomplish.

Here are a few of our favorites to help you get started:

Virtual Book Club for Kids (https://www.virtualbookclubfor kids.com/) This club offers choices by age and themes with interaction through weekly activities and emails.

Brightly (https://www.readbrightly.com/book-club/) Offers a larger age range as well as an opportunity to learn more about the authors.

Lou’s Adventure Book Club - (https://louadventures.com/lousbookclub) Lou’s Book Club compliments any book club and offers great incentives, and it's FREE!

How do I know if my child would be interested in an online book club?

Start by asking! – The eventual goal of reading is an independent activity, and choosing the type of book club that interests them is a great step towards that independence. After parental considerations and your own discovery, present them with options. Advance research on your part will influence their enthusiasm.

Tailor to your child’s interest – If you have a budding sleuth, aspiring wizard, hopeful historian, or promising chef, there is a book club out there for everyone to explore. If your child has an interest, there is likely a book club for it. Also, ask if they would be interested in meeting kids with similar topic interests and feel for their level of engagement and if they would like to expand on the topics within books.

When you find an online book club that inspires your child to engage beyond the pages in the book, they will discover the benefits and growth that follow independent reading.