How do you raise a bookworm?
(I'm actually ASKING this...so please answer!!)
I grew up reading a lot. I read Babysitter's Club and Boxcar Children and Betsy & Tacy and Amelia Bedelia. Thanks to my sister Michelle, I read "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "My Name is Asher Lev" before age 14. I have very few childhood memories of being parked in front of a television, and I'm grateful to my parents for this.
I've always loved to read. There is just something amazing to me about holding a book, having no idea what journey it will take you on when you open the cover. But when you finally close the book, the characters and story have become a little part of you that will never leave. I still get excited opening up a new book. Especially a GOOD book. The prophets have always encouraged us to be constantly filling our minds with uplifting knowledge.
Books are my favorite gift to give/recieve. I wish I could buy all of my favorite books. My dream house has a huge library. I hope heaven has books...maybe I'll have more time to read there!
One of my goals as a mother has always been to raise children who love to read. Cameron is learning to read right now. He is doing such an amazing job. We play a new game in the car now, where I spell a 3 or 4 letter word that he can sound out, like N-E-S-T or S-I-P, and he tells me what word it is. He is getting better and faster at our game every day! Anyway, now that I am close to having a reading-age child, I am beginning to think about whether or not my children will love to read. I'm also reading a book about a father who read to his daughter EVERY day for 9 years straight! Isn't that so cool? Reminds me of my father, he used to lay in my bed at night and make up stories for me. Then he'd record them on cassette for the nights he got called to the hospital. I loved that.
Here is what I would assume would help to raise a bookworm:
1. Read to your child a lot.
2. Let your children see you reading a lot.
3. Keep that blasted tv off!
I'm ready to throw our tv out the window. I probably would, if Nate wouldn't kill me! Except for Castle and sometimes The Big Bang Theory (FUNNIEST show ever, I can't believe I've never watched it before!), I haven't watched any tv in weeks. It has been wonderful. I hate how much the television is on in my house. And when we go to the library, my kids run to the DVD section and could care less about the books. It frustrates me!! So that's my other question: What are the television rules/limits in your household?
I'm really trying to do those 3 things with my children as best as I can. But if you have any more ideas, I'd love to hear them! I know a lot of you have children who are bookworms, so give me your advice and wisdom! It's tough....yesterday I tried to read a book to Rooster, and she kept jumping all over the sofa. And most of the time when we read Scriptures in the mornings, Nate and I look up and realize that we are reading to ourselves. Lovely. :) But we keep on going....every day!!
Auggie turns one!
5 years ago
12 comments:
Oh so much advice! First of all, don't beat yourself up if your kids are not bookworms. They are not you or Nate. They have their own personalities and their own interests. Books may not be one of them. Heath's mom and aunt are both librarians and he doesn't read much. When he does he prefers non-fiction over fiction.
Don't forget that your kids are still really young. Gavin has always loved books. He loved having me read to him and he loves reading to himself. He seems to always be reading at least 5 books at once. Makes me crazy! I prefer to read one at a time.
Parker never seemed to enjoy books as a baby. He squirmed and couldn't wait to take off when I tried to read to him. If he voluntarily picked up a book it was to eat it! It took him some time to get all the reading rules to stick in his mind but now he enjoys reading. Maybe not as much as Gavin does but he is excited to learn to read better every day.
The whole scripture thing will come with time. Your kids are young and the scriptures are not anywhere near their comprehension level right now. Keep doing it so they get used to the routine.
You have good ideas for fostering a love of books in your kids. I saw an idea recently in the Family Fun Magazine. The mom made big pillows for her kids to lay on when they read. There was a pocket to hold their book and bookmarks. When they finished a book they could use fabric pens to write the title on the pillowcase. It was fun for them to see how much they had read.
I agree with you on the TV. Mine is always on and I get tired of it. If I tell my kids no to TV they just turn on the computer and find episodes there. I hate the computer too! The Big Bang Theory is the funniest show ever.
How's that for a hello long comment? You're doing fine as a mother, don't sweat the reading thing for now. Time will tell if you should really be worried. And at that point there are tons of incentive programs and whatnot to try in addition to the solid foundation you have laid for them.
Thanks Tristan...you were one of the comments I was looking forward to! I'm not really beating myself up over this, I'm more curious to see what other parents have done. But in the end, you're right. Each child will be who they are.
Okay - this is likely to be long too but we'll see how I go! First of all, I agree with Tristan in that your children may or may NOT be the bookworm that you and/or Nate are. Heather and I both adored books when we were younger - but Jordan went through phases. When he was very young he LOVED books and would fall asleep in a pile of books... then in middle school and high school he wasn't as interested... now at age 28 he loves books again and dad just gave him his entire Science Fiction collection which Jordan treasures and reads over and over again...
A couple of books you could get your hands on and read are: The New Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease and Eyeopeners by Beverly Kobrin. I think Eyeopeners is more helpful in showing you how to introduce your children to things other than fiction and picture books... both were given to me as graduation gifts (I majored in elementary education) and it has been YEARS since I've read Eyeopeners and it has been a couple of years since I've read he Read Aloud Handbook but I'm planning to read both again now that James will be starting homeschool in January!!
Our TV rules flucuate! Right now the boys watch a video or a few shows on the ABC channel (our equivalent to PBS) on Sunday afternoons, Monday afternoons, and Thursday afternoons. However, I'm thinking of going back to just Sunday afternoons and making them earn that TV time with a sticker or star chart as they are a bit obsessed at the moment. We shall see... it needs long discussion with hubby before a final decision is made.
The best thing you can do for your kids is READ READ READ to them, let them see you read, have good quality literature in the house, and let them see you read! You are doing all that so you are on the right track.
I'm with you on the scripture thing as well - I'm trialling reading the Bible first thing in the morning after breakfast and getting dressed and such. I'm aiming for 10 chapters and the boys are hopping all over the place while I'm reading... so going to give that one another think as well... they are young and full of energy so sitting for long periods of time to do anything is hard for them right now!
You and I could have a MAJOR chat session or send copious emails back and forth about books we want to read... there are SO many books on your "to-read" list on GoodReads that I have to add to my list!
Okay I've written a book and Jeremy is saying he needs his diaper changed so I'm off...
Keep up the good work and keep us posted!!
Haha Heidi, yeah I'm pretty addicted to goodreads. It's a lot of fun. I need to stop adding to-read books though, I'm getting WAY ahead of myself!!
Thank you ladies, this is all perfect!
Definitely read to them a little each day. Aiden used to be all over when I read too but now he will sit and listen. It just takes a bit of time and consistence. I am hoping to raise book worms myself! :)
I had another thought about the sitting still and listening during scripture reading time...
Does Cameron like to colour at all? If so, could you maybe buy some Bible themed colouring books? I've seen a few on ebay that I'm totally thinking of getting for James with the idea that he could colour while I'm reading the Bible out loud...
Just a thought...
When Savannah was really young I started a habit of reading 2 books before nap time and before bed. She has always loved books and loves that she can read on her own now. I realized that I haven't been doing that with Moirah so I recently started with the 2 books at naptime and 2 before bed. She is loving it now. She will sit through the whole book (they are all at her level) and be engaged the whole time. The other night she surprised me and read "No David' to me. She didn't miss very many words. I was shocked how quickly she picked it up. I've only read her that book a handful of times. And tonight we read "Brown Bear Brown Bear" and she wanted to read it to me afterwards. I love that my girls love books. I feel that same way you do about reading and hope that my kids will love it too. I think the key is to encourage it and make books available all the time. It's so exciting to have little readers in our homes.
DEFINITELY see if you can get your hands on the New Read Aloud Handbook (check to see if your library has it maybe)!!! I just started reading it again the other night and OH MY GOODNESS I had forgotten how GREAT it is! If you don't end up underlining half the book like I have I will be truly amazed!!!
Everyone has great ideas!
My best advise...
Let HIM pick the books!
Carter and Harrison *ADORE* going to the library, looking through shelves, and picking out books themselves. They are more willing to read the books I allow them to pick, rather than ones that I pick for them.
Also, at night, I allow them to have a small light on to "read" - I have done this for years, even if the "reading" was just flipping through, seeing sight words, and looking at pictures. The excitement of getting to stay up to read made reading seem *SUPER* exciting, and they loved it! **I am very strict on bed-time, so at first I would often have them go to bed a half hour early so they could think they were staying up later... however, now that they can tell time, I have lessened my need for a 7:00pm SLEEP time, and have allowed a 7:00pm BEDtime, where they can read in bed until 8! Carter will generally stay up and read the entire time. Harrison usually passes out within 15 minutes.
Enjoy it!!!!!
advice** (brain is broken due to finals approaching)
One more thing-
I do not know about other families. I only know mine. I do not limit TV... I don't have to. When I used to limit TV, somehow TV became something they craved and looked forward to all day. Now, there are days at a time that go by without them asking for a single movie. The same goes for the Wii. I allowed it to be totally unstructured, and *they* got bored with it. Again, this is just for my family, I have no idea if this would work for others. I don't know if it is because they are homeschooled, I dont know if it is because they are obsessed with Legos, I really do not know what the deal was- but when I stopped caring how much TV they watched, they stopped asking for it.
**The only time we EVER had cable was when we lived on campus. Currently we own Netflix streaming and DVD rentals, and about 100 movies.
AH! Okay, last comment, I promise.
As a book-lover, myself, I became so saddened when my once bookwormish son, Carter, started HATING to read. He would get frustrated, angry, and complain. I did NOT like that!!! When I started allowing him to pick the books (like I mentioned in my first of these three annoying comments, lol) he started *asking* to go to the bookstore and library! Sure, some of the books were silly (Captain Underpants?! Bad Kitty?!) but they rekindled his inner book-loving fire and in a few weeks he was grabbing books about fire trucks, birds, and the history behind Santa Claus!
I finally took out the tv in our house. It got to be too much and if they weren't watching it they were asking to watch it. We've had no tv for a couple months now, and I love it. I was scared to do it because I love the quiet time or opportunity to do something on my own, but it's been great. I wanted to go all the way instead of just 30 minutes or one show a day because I knew they'd be trying to get more any way they could. And since we haven't had it for so long they don't ask anymore. We're allowing a few Christmas shows for special occasions. They get 30 minutes of computer time a day if they've taken care of their responsibilities for the day.
Maybe for the library you could only do dvds every other visit. Then they'd know when you go, "we're only doing books today".
Reading to your kids and letting them see you read is the best thing you can do for them. Don't sweat it if they're not into books yet--they will. And as Cameron gets better at reading, finding books at his level will get him excited about reading. My son's kindergarten teacher would send home stories from clarkness.com. There are free stories that are at K and 1st grade levels. She said they're good for practicing, but if you can find a book they can read they get more excited about it. They see mom and dad reading BOOKS, and they want to be able to read a book, too.
We have routine reading time, as well as the story when they ask for it. We always do bedtime stories and I try to start of quiet/naptime with a book. Graphic novels are good for getting them excited about reading, too.
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