Recently my daughter Maryallie came to me and said, "I've run out of things to read. Can you help me find something?" I looked at our shelves and pulled down Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer. She read the first page and gave me an I'm-not-sure-this-is-for-me look. "Well, read the first chapter and then decide," I suggested. She sat down and soon devoured the whole thing. I was a bit amazed: a ten-year-old reading Mark Twain. I don't think I knew who Mark Twain was until I was in high school.
Maryallie is not the only one. The other two triplets, Sam and Hannah Beth, constantly have books in their hands. Hannah-B loves Laura Engels Wilder while Sam tends to favor epic fantasy on the order of Eragon and JRR Tolkien. At six years of age Judith can be found on the couch reading One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish out loud to herself. Her twin Jake is the only one who, so far, doesn't pick up books without some prompting. But increasingly he brings me books to read to him, so perhaps there is still hope for him.
How did Allie and I luck into raising a bunch of kids who like to read? I'm not sure but I think there are several factors:
1. The TV is not the center of our house.
We have one TV and it's not in the living room. It's upstairs, a bit out of the way. We let them watch it some but they have to ask permission to turn it on. The same goes for the computer/computer games. They have to ask us before they can play at them. If they have been watching or playing for an hour or two it's time to turn it off. On the other hand, they never have to ask if they can read.
2. Allie and I read out loud to the kids.
Allie's been reading to them since they were tiny. I started a ritual of reading a chapter of a longer book to them before bed. We started at about age seven. I think the first thing we read was The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It became something to do with daddy, a time to snuggle, a way to wind down the day. I make sure that I enjoy what we're reading too. If it isn't fun for me, I'll be less likely to read to them. Currently we're reading The Shadowmancer. Next year, I'll start reading the six-year-olds. I can't think of a better way to show them that reading is fun.
3. Create a culture of reading.
Our house is filled with books. The kids have shelves dedicated to their books in the living room. They see Allie and me reading all the time. We make sure they take things to read when we go on trips. We talk about what we are reading at the dinner table. Reading is "normal" in our house.
I'm sure we've made lots of mistakes in raising the kids but I'm proud we have given them the gift of reading.
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9 comments:
"You're preaching to the choir" here. Our house is also a haven for reading. I am currenlty in the process of obtaining my teacher's certification in Elementary Special Education, with an emphasis on Reading. I believe that a love of reading can foster so many wonderful things in our children; it allows them to actually emphasize with other cultures, create active imaginations, and understand complicated concepts. Our Jacob (now 2) loves to be read to, and that is definitely a gift that I can give him everyday.
Kelly, do you have any other tips for us on how to encourage a child's love for reading?
Here are a couple of ideas:
1. Create a family-created theme for all members to read on at the same time. (Our family is doing WWII theme to start the summer. Brenson is starting with Maus, and Reagan with Number the Stars. I'm reading on the Japenese Interment, and Aaron is reading on an American solider in Pearl Harbor.)
2. Get involved with the Summer Reading Programs at the Library and Barnes and Noble. Both offer prizes for reading, such as a new book!
Both of my kids learned to read beginner stuff before they went to kindergarten by my encouraging them to "help" me to read to them at an early age. They got to both hear the story and participate in the reading. Learning to read at an early age gave them strong writing skills through the school years. Avid readers tend to become skilled writers. You are giving your kids a great base to build on for the rest of their lives. If you nudge them to write now, it will also strengthen their desire to read.
Dan Lee
I'm with Dan. Readers = Writers.
I think thats why I wanna write so bad and create stories because I loved hearing them and reading them.
I vividly remember begging for more books at bedtime as a child and I was not told no alot. It became a way to spend time with Mom and Dad.
I was so proud when I read all of GREEN EGGS AND HAM to my Dad. I was convinced it was his favorite book.
The younger two didn't get the reading treatment like I did, thus turning them into video game zombies. (Okay, Okay, sometimes its just fun to blow things up.)
I think inaccessible T.V.s are a key thing in reading. When I did not keep a t.v. in the bedroom I would read myself to sleep, but when I had a few extra t.v. sets I stuck one in there and found myself watching movies to fall asleep too.
But PLEASE keep your kids reading I'm so close to the end of my novel and how can my books sell if people don't like read!
Oh and I think finding a family book, one everyone has read or reads together really fosters reading. We all read Ender's Game cause Dad loved it. And my old roommate would read the same book as his family and all discuss it over dinner.
I was thinking about reading a lot last night. Several of the high school kids were telling me that they'd only read one book. And it was for school. One book. Ever.
What do you do with that?
So many worlds are closed to them.
get the book 'Poppy' by Avi. The boys will LOVE it. I actually read it in my college reading class (the perks of being an early childhood education major ... ), but it is a chapter book for young readers. parts of it are kinda gross, but the boys in my elementary classes ALWAYS love it! Its a whole series, but this is the only one ive read.
Thanks for the tip, Janelle. I'll look into it.
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