Yesterday morning it was rainy.  It was bleak out our window.  But this moment, this moment made my heart sing.  Mamacita “reading” to her little brother the book Love You Forever.  She remembered almost what every page was about from me reading it over (& over & over & over again) & he was enthralled.

A while back I posted about how I live in a house of kids who love to read, with my oldest leading the way. In the comments section Tracy asked in the comments HOW you get kids to enjoy reading. I figured I’d write about what we do in our home & the same advice I give my college classes when the subject of children’s education comes up.

Granted some of the desire to read comes down to personality.  Some people just love reading more than others no matter what you do, it’s not a problem just a difference in personality. But hopefully some of these ideas will help if not encourage a love of reading, encourage the understanding of why reading is valuable & can open up an entire world for a child.

1. Read, read & read some more to your children.

Start when they are infants & continue on. Don’t stop once they have developed early reading skills, but continue. Have the books you read together change to reflect the changing ages of your children. Read stories that appeal to a wide age range. Before we made the switch to homeschooling, we would have done this in the evening before end or on a weekend day (often Sunday) as a family. Now we have more freedom in our day to have this happen over breakfast or lunch too.

I have the fondest memories of reading The Hobbit with my father as a kid, my brother curled next to us.  I remember reading a page or two myself every time aloud.  This was excellent reading aloud experience for me.  If you do this with your kids, make sure not to overly nitpick them or expect them to read a lot at one time (maybe they only read a sentence or two, that’s fine! start there & build).  Instead follow their lead, you want your readers (especially your struggling readers) to feel safe in the experience.

2. Engage kids about what they are reading.

When doing a read aloud or if your child is reading on their own ask them questions about what they are reading. When you are reading aloud stop every now and again and ask your kids what they think is happening the story & what might happen next. Talk about the ending of the story & engage them. If they are reading on their own more, ask how their book is going & what is happening to the main characters.  Over dinner is a great time to engage kids about their day, ask about what they are reading too.

3. Let kids choose what they want to read.

Obviously, this deserves a caveat of within what you consider age appropriate & reflecting the moral compass of your worldview. There are some books that might be great books to read but you may find that they are better suited for a more mature child, that’s your call as a parent. However, in general give kids a range of books to choose from.

I don’t ascribe to the “never let them read fluff” mantra. I know there are many people rolling eyes & some great educators who are long gone rolling in their graves at that BUT here’s my reason why: some fluff that is self-chosen can be used positively. It can be used to engage children in basic skills of understanding how story writing occurs (what’s the story line, who is the protagonist, the antagonist, what was the story arc,was there foreshadowing etc…). What might seem like fluff to a parent might be what gets a child interested in reading & can be balanced with less “fluffy” reading pieces.

And if you have a child who likes to read comics, let him/her. Use the comics as a jumping off point for their interests in other areas, if they like the battle of good v. evil find other books that fit this theme.  You can encourage them to create their own comic.

4. Have books in the home.

Have a wide selection of books in the home ranging from fiction to nonfiction.  Kids often love to read about real life events & areas of study (e.g. space, the founding of a nation, cultures around the world).  You may have a child who doesn’t want to curl up and get lost in a fictional story for hours, but you may have one who is interested in ancient cultures or the planets.   So have a selection of books in the home for kids to choose from.  I really like Usborne Encyclopedias for a starting place for nonfiction kid-friendly reading to start from.

Also, many stores sell sets of books relatively cheaply. Have a couple sets in the home. We found a set of classics for children ranging from Alice in Wonderland to Treasure Island. We were able to use these for our reading time as a family & our oldest choose to read all of them himself as well. I can’t state that your kid will decide to just read on his/her own what you have but having it there to read aloud gives more chance for a child to decide to re-read the book on his/her own in the future.

5. Turn the media off.

I’m going to be the first to admit I love my media. Love, love, love it!  Yep, I’m being honest.  We don’t ban media in our home outright. Our kids do watch T.V. & play video games, Mike & I surf the net. However, we do turn off the media for portions of the day, every day. If you have never turned the boob tube off for any period of time or have kids who are use to getting to watch T.V. whenever they’re home I suggest a model to slowly turn it off. Start with a 30 minute break and build from there. During this time don’t make it so kids HAVE to read but just that they choose something to do on their own. You might surprised one day to see them choosing a book to read. And if they complain of being bored, they can always help you clean the house or pull weeds in the yard.

6. You have to read too.

Yes, you also need to read.  Why? Because kids learn through modeling behavior. If they see you read, discuss books & show an interest in books they will pick up on the value of reading. If you never read you can’t expect them to ever do so either. It’s like telling a kid to eat vegetables & whole foods while he/she watches Mom & Dad eat junk food & never touch a vegetable.

We can’t help our kids if we don’t model the behaviors first. Our kids learn so much from us. This doesn’t matter if your child is in a traditional school environment or at home or the age of your child, you are STILL your child’s primary teacher. You may partner up with others but it is you that your child looks to daily.  What you do as a parent has a huge impact on your child!

Finally, check out your local libraries and book stores. Take your kids with you & let them have the full experience of picking a book out.

Please share your own suggestions for helping kids learn to love reading!!

He takes books everywhere with him now. Doesn’t matter how long the car ride is, the wait for dinner or the time before bed.  No, it doesn’t matter because he will try to fit in some reading. He can’t wait to share with us everything he read, try to figure out why the characters are doing what they are doing, and what will happen next.  I only hope his passion for reading stays with him for life.

Mamacita and Mr G. are both learning to read. Mr. G is learning to recognize words. While Mamacita is in the earlier stages of “reading” a book, meaning she looks at the pictures & tries to tell a story based on the pictures in the book. She’s trying to understand the underlying meanings to words, & it’s darn cute. Especially when her stories involve dialogue. “Oh, what do we have here? A sugar bug? Better get the bug spray.” Let’s hope she realizes sugar bugs don’t require actual bug spray before she goes on to medical school–what am I pushing? Just because she reads books on the dentist and Dora going to the doctor doesn’t mean she’s going to medical school? Well, I think it just might.

After Christmas (as in the very next day) we started “Project Organize” at our house.  We went to IKEA, because we can’t resist the lure of IKEA, and the RIBBA Ledges came home with us.  I wanted something so the kids could remove a book they wanted without the chaos of ALL the books ending up ALL over the floor. As was often the case with the more traditional book shelf. We needed something that made use of unused space & wouldn’t break the bank.  These ledges do just that, originally they were designed for picture frames but I find they are perfect for making books accessible.  You can even theme your books on different shelves & the ledges come in different lengths. We have varying lengths set up in the basement which is where this picture was taken. I took the picture a little off-center so you could see how the ledge looks without any books in it (see the left of the ledge–open space). We also plan to add some above each child’s bed, so they can have the books they like to read before bed right there.  Overall, these have been a raging success.

One of our favoritest (Yes, that is a word. Why? Because I say it is) books in the whole wide world is Glad Monster, Sad Monster: A Book About Feelings. It’s by Ed Emberley & Anne Miranda. We were introduced to it through the preschool the children have attended. The preschool uses it as part of their feelings section & the kids LOVE it. Each child has their own favoritest monster, well except for D-man. He has a literal taste for all the monsters. Seriously, the kid will try to eat anything.

Mr. J’s…Glad Monster.

Mr. G’s…Silly Monster.

Mamacita’s…Loving Monster.

You can hold the monster faces up to your own & use them as a way to talk about what you are feeling or what makes you feel worried or angry (it covers these too). The kids think it’s freaking hilarious to see Mommy or Daddy or anyone for that matter put on the monster face. Well, actually I would hope NOT just anyone. I mean if it was the mailman entertaining my kids then I’d wonder why the heck was the mailman using our book & why was he entertaining my kids…wait where was I?

Oh yah, the book.

You can also have the kiddos create their own feelings monsters. But no fair asking little Timmy why he wants to be an angry monster who destroys his sister’s toys & doesn’t he want to be a happy monster who loves butterflies. Because it’s about them learning to express feelings in a healthy way. Not like a lot of us adults who express them by eating a carton of ice cream or yelling at strangers while driving.  I mean really they should know NOT to be in the fast lane if they’re only going to drive 50 miles an hour. It’s a 70 mile an hour zone! Move it OR Lose it.

Hmm…It might be time for me to make my own feelings monster.

Reading:

Mama, PhD: Women Write About Motherhood and Academic Life it was the book I got at the conference, they also have a Mama, PhD blog. I have heard and read others talking about the book & it seemed like it would be right up my alley. It’s a collection of essay reflections on academic mothers. With everything going on in my life, reading it only makes me feel more ambivalent about what to do next. Progressive policies for combining the public & personal, family & work usually stop at the lecture door in most universities & colleges.

Listening:
Grandmaster Flash. ‘Nuff said.

Watching:

Health care discussions: is it so wrong to want answers? to want my representatives who are elected to you know, DO THEIR JOBS AND READ A BILL (any bill) before trying to talk about it or worse planning to vote for it? to NOT get talked down to as if I’m an idiot? I don’t know what the answers are to the current health care situation BUT I DO KNOW that I DESERVE answers beyond talking points. I didn’t like it when the last administration pulled that crap & I don’t like it now. Just talk to me, don’t talk down to me. Anyone else tired of being treated like a child by the government? Especially given the fact that I (and most people I know) treat children as if they have brains.