Ready, Set, Read!

by Marilynn Halas on August 20th, 2012
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We all want our kids to love to read right? Once a child falls in love with reading, the world is forever changed because we have given them the best gift I know, a life long love of learning. “I read it somewhere,” becomes the refrain every time someone asks how he or she knows about so many different things. Reading books is just a part of it. Technology used to be a distraction from getting kids to read, but not any more. With electronic readers, texting and e-mail and all forms of social media, the written word is enjoying a whole new relevance.

Okay, so we know all that. We want our kids not just to learn to read, but to actually love reading. The thing is, sometimes it’s not so easy. What can a parent do when a child is frustrated or just not that interested in what sometimes feels like more school work, instead of fun? Every family has different ideas and mine is no exception, so I thought I would put together some tips that work for us and I hope you will share your tips too.

Cracking the code and deciphering the lines and squiggles on a page is a huge milestone in a child’s life. Knowing that you can read is a great confidence builder and really ignites the fire to learn. One of the things that we love to do is to make reading a family affair. Remember story hour when you were a kid? It is still pretty cool to close your eyes and listen to a story unfold together.

We like to have a family book. While we are on summer vacation or during winter break, I give my kids a choice of books I think they enjoy, but that they might not choose to read alone. The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland or Treasure Island or anything by Mark Twain or Jane Austen are all good places to start. Also poetry is fun to read as a family because it is often full of adventure, like Homer’s Odyssey, or downright silly, like Shel Siverstein’s Dirty Dan.

My kids love to hear the silly voices and see the crazy looks as we read along and try to imagine seeing a one-eyed Cyclops, or fighting alongside a feisty mouse like Reepicheep. I am always willing to be silly in the name of a good story and my kids’ giggling is the best payoff. These family times make reading come alive and spending time together is the whole point anyway.

On regular school nights we have a different approach. In our house, we still have story time, but my older kids have too much homework to be able to indulge in a long story, so we modify. Reading together can be a great team building activity. We like to have the littlest one choose the book and the older one’s take turns reading it out loud. It’s great practice for the shy or emerging readers in your home and the not yet readers feel like they are participating because they are choosing the title. Even older kids enjoy reading to their younger siblings and taking a well- earned break from their homework. Again, silly voices and scandalized expressions as we read, go a long way toward making the fifteen minutes come alive.

It’s a chance to reconnect and feel needed and I think a book that does that is a gift for the whole family. My last tip is the easiest. All you have to do is read your own book around your kids. They say that a love of reading is caught, not taught. Go to the library for yourself, not just the children’s section. Let them see that this is a lifelong activity that you enjoy. There is a miraculous time in every child’s life when his or her fondest wish is to be just like Mommy or Daddy. Take advantage of this best kind of peer pressure. Raise a family of readers by indulging yourself. Let them see you reading your favorite books, magazines and even this blog.

Remember escaping into a good book can be a great way to keep your face to the sun while all your shadows fall behind.

Marilynn


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