I was blessed with parents who absolutely love to read and are passionate about education. Amidst all the demands of raising their eight kids, they found time to read The Wall Street Journal, the local news, the classics, the scriptures, and self-help books. On Sundays, my mom would make pudding and brownies or cookies, and then we would snuggle up with her, and she would read the Little House on the Prairie books to us while we enjoyed the treats. I also remember laughing with my dad as he read Summer of the Monkeys to us kids. He introduced me to J.R.R. Tolkien, and to this day, The Hobbit is still one of my favorite books. I read this book in sixth grade, and I still see Bilbo Baggins riding down the river on top of the wine barrels into which he had stuffed the dwarves. 

Even though I don’t consider myself an avid reader like my parents, I naturally wanted to pass the love of books on to my kids. My husband and I were not blessed with children right away as we had hoped. So, by the time our son came along five years later, I was raring to go and ready to invest everything I had into this little bundle of joy. I read lots and lots of books to him when he was a baby and small child. My husband and I have sweet memories of our son sitting on our laps and turning the pages to Richard Scarry’s illustrated book, I am a Bunny. At age two, he could recite the entire book word for word. “I am a bunny. My name is Nicholas. I live in a hollow tree. . . . I chase the butterflies and the butterflies chase me. . . . When it rains, I keep dry under a toadstool. . . .” It was the cutest thing ever! 

We are currently on the exciting journey of helping our daughter, who is in second grade, to become an independent reader. At the beginning of the year, she tested a little below grade level for her reading. I was in denial at first and then felt guilty as to why I hadn’t been doing more. Life had gotten a lot busier after she came along, and I am afraid that she did not get the same one-on-one reading attention that our son received. I humbled myself and accepted all the help that my daughter’s school had to offer. Her  teacher and the reading specialist have been awesome. I also dove into phonics with her and have fallen in love with the science behind word formation. Breaking the words down into letters, understanding different letter combinations, and learning what sounds they can create has been really helpful for our daughter. 

 I also try to find books that match my kids’ interests. Our daughter is a huge dog lover, so I am always on the lookout for animal books. In first or second grade, our son was introduced to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Even though Greg Heffley, the main character, is an annoying whiner in these books, I have him to thank for getting my son interested in reading and helping him become an independent reader. 

One more thing I want to mention that has been helpful in getting my kids to read is doing the “Mom Store.” I learned this idea from Ralphie Jacobs, as well. On her Instagram account, she teaches parents how to implement positive parenting in their families. She has tremendously blessed my family with her little tidbits of wisdom on her Instagram account. Please go follow her!! 

Getting back to the “Mom Store,” fill a big Tupperware container full of fun and yummy snacks, and use these to entice your kids to participate in a family summer reading program. The only time that kids are allowed to have these special snacks is during a one-hour reading-time period that you schedule every day. Ralphie has a ticket system where children read so many pages to earn tickets to redeem for snacks. Parents decide how many pages kids must read for each ticket. Children can then exchange these tickets for a special snack to eat during their reading time. 

The whole idea behind this is that reading has intrinsic value; however, emerging and inexperienced readers don’t know this yet. Pair a good book (at your child’s reading level) with an enticing snack, and you have just led a horse to water, and he or she should drink. The hope is that these books will take them on adventures, make them laugh out loud, teach them something new, help them view the world through someone else’s eyes, and develop their love of reading. The “Mom Store” has been a great resource for me as I have tried to nurture my children’s love for reading.

Karen and I met one another at church about 14 years ago. We had an instant connection, having both experienced the heartache of infertility, and I have admired her ever since. Our families began to grow around the same time and we participated in a preschool co-op with our sons. She has been a tremendous example of strength, faith, and endurance in my life. Karen, thank you for your dear friendship and for sharing these thoughts about reading!    

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