My daughter loves books of all kinds. I want to encourage her and foster this love. We were in Target yesterday and I told her that she could get a book or a toy. Since I'm blogging about it you can guess she picked a book. She is also going to be the one to model this love of reading for her sister. Who loves to point out all the things in the story she knows especially the animals. Which is exactly what is happening in the picture.As a teacher I know how important this is to do at home. When I ask my students...Who reads with you at home? Who do you read to at home? There answer is often nobody. This breaks my heart. If there is one thing that I wish the parents of my students would do it would be to make sure their kids are reading every night. No matter how important I tell my students reading is...this message needs to come from their parents.
So here are some of my ideas on encouraging reading.
- Read (at least 20 minutes) everyday!
- Reread their favorites. I know this can be boring but start pausing at different points and let them fill it in. Gillian has several favorites that she can read to me now since they're memorized.
- Read all kinds of genres: fiction, nonfiction, poerty, and magazines. Gillian loves to read Highlights they have a preschool version called High Five.
- Be a good role model. I often have a book with me too although with the kids around I rarely get through one. It's still good for them to see.
- Go to the library and borrow books. I will be getting Gillian a library card as soon as she's old enough.
I'd love to hear some what you're doing. I'm sure there are tons of other great ideas out there.
7 comments:
Here, here! I second this! As a high school teacher, I see kids far too often who struggle in school because they didn't develop a love of reading at a young age, and now, all the extra skills and necessities kids get from reading, which can be developed as a habit and passion, are lacking. This sets them back in a HUGE way, and these kids are often the ones with a) behavioral issues in the high school class room and b) academic issues in school in general. Thanks for the encouragement, Kat!
Great post!
One other thing we do to encourage reading is give our children access to lots of books starting when they're babies. And not just board books, which despite their ingenious design don't seem to hold the same appeal – at least for my girls. There are obviously some special, collector or expensive books that I keep out of their reach, but I also try to let go of my perfectionism and not worry about pages getting crumpled or torn.
We place a lot of emphasis on caring for books, and intentionally ruining a book is a punishable offense, but I don't freak out when my 18 mo tears a page (even though it kills me inside) because I truly believe that one reason they all love books as much as they do is because they are allowed to "read" them whenever they want!
i agree with you. learning starts at home. hubs and i have read a lot to our kids when they were very young. :D
Moms... Check Nyo
Oh a girl after my own heart! We LOVE books here too! The one thing we have been doing since Joe Braden turned 3 is reading chapter books. He loves the stories such as Box Car Children, Hank the Cow Dog, and Charlotte's Web. It has been a blessing to share my favorites and to give him a love of books.
Good advice! I hope my girls learn to love reading too.
Hmmm....You're a teacher with 2 little gals the same age as mine. We're two peas in a pod, you and me. You bet I'll be back to visit ya! Thanks for visiting me on my Blog Jog. Pardon my limp. Shin splints, ya know!
Great post! My girls love to read. We started when they were newborns with reading. My oldest daughter could sit and listen to someone read to her for hours. While the baby only wants to read at bedtime.
We love the books that are level 1 readers, then you progess to level 2. I think as long as your buying books that the subject or character appeals to your child they will love it.
We have been through a Dora phase, now we are loving Fancy Nancy and Olivia.
Thanks for visiting my blog today.
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