I have a little post that's building in my head about the joys of reading aloud, the skills that lead to the most successful experiences, resources that are out there to support this practice and my own personal history, but you'll just have to wait to see if it comes to fruition in the form of an essay for 5M4B. (Here's hoping for an On Reading post, Jennifer!) In it's place, I'll share with you some of my goals for reading together with my own children-- it's something that we do quite regularly, but it never hurts to be thoughtful about how I want to strengthen the experiences we have, right?
Pudge, almost 17 months old:
Oh, my darling little toddler. This dude has inherited his family's love for books, and he even more often uses his eyes rather than his teeth on the books these days. It's probably the biggest challenge to find time to read just to him, since he never really gets isolated time with me-- he's gotta share the stage with his big sis. But, we do have a basket full of board books in the living room and an entire shelf in his bedroom, so there's really excuse not to make little intervals of 5 minutes at a time to read together throughout the day. Maybe if Red is busy playing happily by herself (HA HA HA), we can snuggle up on the couch with a board book. More than likely, we'll soon be joined by the little miss herself, but she still enjoys the simple stories of board books as well, so it doubles as a family reading session as well. My biggest goal beyond making more time to read specifically to Pudge is to garner more patience with his apparent need to always be moving while we're reading. He's looking at the pictures and pointing to illustrations in response to simple questions, but he is ALWAYS moving. (Yes, I'm trying not to make any comparisons to anyone else in the family who has been physically active since the day he was born...). So, more time specifically for Pudge and a more relaxed mama when he climbs all over me as we read!
Red, almost 3 years old:
This one is easy, because Red is the child that gets the most reading attention from me. She has a fantastic attention span for books, and she'll sit for picture books with complex stories for longer than I would expect. It's kinda funny because as a young toddler, she really couldn't seem to care less about books. JAM would attend to board books from as young as a few months old, gazing for extended times at the pictures and reacting to my voice as I read the stories. But now, you couldn't imagine that, because this the child who routinely reaches for books and retells the stories in her own words. So, I guess my goal for Red is simply to continue to nurture her love for books by reading together several times a day, and by making sure to provide a wide variety of picture books, nonfiction selections, and nursery rhyme and poetry collections.
JAM, 8.5 years old:
Now here comes the challenge. It's not what you might think-- no, he hasn't fallen into that trap that often hits around the 3rd grade for boys of not enjoying reading. No, no, no, nothing could be further from the truth-- he reads all the live-long day. He reads at breakfast, he often brings a book with him at lunch at school for when he's done eating (his school encourages a whole lot of quiet at lunch time, so rather than talk with friends and risk getting into trouble, he often opts to carry a book...), and I know that if he had his way, a book would accompany him to the dinner table as well. So, it's not that he doesn't have the book love, it's just that we've gotten away from reading together. With all the reading that I've done about reading aloud with children, I know that it is inherently important that parents do not stop reading aloud just because their kids can read independently. BUT. It's so easy to get into the habit of letting JAM read a book of his own in the evening while I read my own book nearby (or tip tap on the laptop). That being said, my goal for JAM is easy-- we're going to tackle a few books together in the coming weeks. We just started Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, and Babe the Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith is on deck. Really the only time that we have together for sustained, and mostly uninterrupted reading time is before bed, during the time that he is still awake, but the other two have retired for the evening. We simply need to make a priority, and I need to get it in my head that I will have to wait until after 8:45 to get my computer fix!
There you have it-- I'm joining with Jennifer and making it a personal goal to Read Together with my kids. How about you? If you're interested in joining the crew, you can link up with your own post of goals!
Always making goal lists and reading books,
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