by tawnyember | Mar 30, 2021 | Articles
Reading is Tough Stuff
Reading can be hard work for kids. First, it taxes their brains because this skill is so new to them. You might compare it to an adult attempting to decode a pattern of foreign symbols and derive meaning from them, all without Little Orphan Annie’s secret decoder ring. Second, we often expect our child to sit still when every muscle in their body wants to move. Third, many don’t like being corrected, even if they were way off. This is a reminder that they are not quite getting it, which feels like failure. They can be sensitive little people! Try to keep these things in mind and practice patience.
In addition, children tend to mimic our attitude toward tasks. If reading isn’t really your thing, your kids could be picking up on that. You’ll need to put in some extra effort here. It’s important to show excitement prior to reading and enjoyment while reading a story. So if you aren’t currently delighting in it, fake it until it becomes real. I assure you that you’ll get there.
Celebrate Every Victory
When your child does sound out a word successfully, get through a session of reading, finish a book, or even pick up a book on their own, you should celebrate! Make a big deal out of this seemingly small accomplishment. Help them feel like it was worth the effort. Their confidence and pride will swell as you acknowledge the work they’ve done. Even reluctant readers will eventually look forward to celebrating their progress.
How should you celebrate? Any way you think might be your child’s currency, so long as it is quick, easy, and fun. Below are some ideas to try. I’m sure you’ll come up with your own to fit your family’s needs better, but make sure it’s doable for you to sustain. Should they happen to enjoy many of these activities, write each down on a slip of paper and let them draw one out of a basket when they earn it. Just be sure to make celebrating a habit, so it reinforces their attempts at reading.
Possible Rewards
- Run a victory lap (or four) around the house together. Yes, you need to do it, too! That’s what will make it extra fun and rewarding for them.
- Dance to the “Eye of the Tiger” or your child’s go-to rock anthem with the volume cranked up. If you didn’t already know, there are pretty great remixes of cartoon theme songs like “Winnie the Pooh,” “Doc McStuffins,” “The Pink Panther,” and “My Little Pony.”
- Make up a special handshake together.
- Sing the “Reading Rainbow” theme song at the top of your lungs.
- Get a refreshing drink or yummy snack together.
- Do a sandwich hug between loved ones.
- Allow them five minutes to dress up like a character from their book. You get to guess who they are.
- Offer them something crafty to do (sidewalk chalk, bubbles, paints, etc.).
- Present your child to the rest of the family as though they were royalty. Announce their achievements and have everyone bow down and clap.
- Give them a small trinket. (Hello, dollar store!)
- Have them earn time on a device, preferably spent together.
- Pay them one cent per word or page read, whatever amount you think is appropriate for their level.
- Let them choose a piece of candy. Hey, sometimes you just gotta use what works!
When we celebrate our children’s little steps along their path to literacy and acquiring a love of reading, we convey the great importance of this skill. Soon, reading itself will become the reward. This week, I invite you to share with us what celebratory activity you chose and how your child responded. I can’t wait to hear from you!
Party on!
by tawnyember | Mar 25, 2021 | Parent Perspective
I have always said one of my favorite parts about my day is reading to my children. There’s something so calming about it that makes us all look forward to it. Plus, I love the snuggles and conversations we have about the stories we read together. I have been reading to my kids since they were babies and have made it a part of our daily routine. Looking back over the past 12 years, I’ve learned a few things. It takes time to reach your goal of what you think “reading” should look like. I always imagined my kids would sit still while I read them a story and that they would automatically LOVE reading. It took many years for that to happen, but I never gave up hope. I learned to base reading time off of their moods and just go with the flow.
Time is a gift and I’ve chosen to use my time to read to my children.
I also learned how important it was to have books in every room, closet and vehicle we own. I wanted my kids to always have a book at their fingertips. I know this helped fuel their passion for reading. Another thing I realized over time is how beautiful a used book can seem. Books are meant to be touched and read over and over again. The more they get read the more worn they look and that’s a good thing!
I know life gets busy and we feel like we don’t have time to do everything, but reading to my kids is high on my priority list. Time is a gift and I’ve chosen to use my time to read to my children. My hope is that one day they will become fathers and mothers and show love to their children too by taking the time to read to their own children daily. Books make me happy, and reading them to my children makes me even happier! -Sari
*Side note: My kids love having a wall book shelf right next to their beds. I bought these from IKEA and they’ve been a fun thing for my kids to put their special books in. I highly recommend getting some for your home!
Find Sari’s wall bookshelf at Ikea
I am SO blessed to be able to claim Sari as a close friend of mine. Her sunny personality always lightens my spirits, and my kids are all convinced she is their own, personal buddy. She has 3 of the sweetest, smiliest children, from toddler to middle grade. She is a former 2nd grade teacher, the kind every kid loves and every parent prays to have. Thank you so much for your insightful contribution, Sari!
by tawnyember | Mar 23, 2021 | Articles
Dear parents and guardians,
With schools and libraries being closed for so long, I know you worry about your children progressing in their reading. None of us want our kids falling behind, especially in this critical area. On top of that, electronics and the internet have become fierce competitors for their time and attention. This can cause our role as parents to feel particularly challenging. I want to give you specific tools to make reading time exciting, enriching, and memorable for your children AND for you!
The tips and tricks I post will be shared with neurotypical and neurodivergent children in mind, since I am a mom to both. And to prove how valuable and significant your child’s reading ability is, I am committed to going the extra mile. I will be asking friends, family, and professionals to pitch in and submit their personal reading experiences in order to present a wider sampling of what reading time looks like in hundreds of homes throughout the country.
From an educational standpoint, reading with your children regularly may be the single most important activity you do with them. An added benefit is the emotional connection you will develop with your kids as you work together. When you apply the ideas found here, and this aspect of parenting becomes a bit easier on you, we can celebrate with one another! I want you and your kids to succeed so that the future is brighter for ALL of us.
Best wishes!
Tawny Ember
by tawnyember | Mar 23, 2021 | Articles
Imagine you are camping with your family on the beach. You were given fire duty. You’ve collected small sticks and dried moss, which you lit with a few sparks. Do you sit back now and hope it takes off all on its own? No! You blow on it and supply more fuel. You feed that baby whatever it needs!
Kids are the same as young fires. They are messy, finicky, destructible, constantly hungry, and sometimes downright dangerous. But for now we are going to focus on how we can fan their flames of interest . . . with books!
Consider this quote from an article by Robin H. Boltz:
Most school-age boys score lower than girls at every level on standardized tests of reading comprehension in almost every country where tested. The amount of reading that a child does is directly related to reading fluency; the more one reads, the more proficient one becomes. After reviewing theories and research studies investigating why boys perform less well than girls, a consensus emerges that one reason boys read less is because the kind of reading they are given to do in school does not connect to their interests.
Essentially, Boltz is saying that the more kids read, the better! And to encourage more frequent reading, we should introduce them to books they can’t help but burn through.
Fan the Flames of Your Child’s Curiosity
If your child starts asking questions about pharaohs, the Eiffel Tower, or how electricity works, I PROMISE there is a book written for kids about that very topic! It’s part of our job as their guardians to make a note–either mental, on paper, or in a device–about what is currently piquing their curiosity.
Then, when you have a few minutes, reserve some fun books at the library, ask friends if they own a copy, or order them online. This may stoke your child’s interest even further (so you can look for more books!) or satiate it and then they can move on to another topic (so you can look for more books!). You never know . . . that one spark might become the torch they carry their whole life.
Fan the Flames of Your Child’s Interests
If your child is into sports, music, or baking, it is just as important to find complementary reading material as it is to get them registered on a team or signed up for lessons. We all know that mental and physical training go hand-in-hand. Some professionals insist that the mental aspect is even more powerful than the physical. Reading, studying, and visualizing are an integral part of that mental preparation.
I’d like to extend an invitation to each of you: find just one or two books within the next week that will answer a question your child recently asked or relates to one of their hobbies. Put it in their hands and watch that flame ignite.
But wouldn’t it be easier to let them figure things out on Youtube? Of course! However, it’s also a lost opportunity to encourage discovery through reading. Tend that burgeoning fire well. Give it the good stuff. Just don’t let it die out! Feed those beautiful sparks so you can both enjoy the roaring flames later. Can you imagine the warmth and comfort it will bring?
Happy reading!
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