I am BEYOND excited about today. I’ve been working on a little something behind the scenes and it’s just for you. Well you and anyone who gets within ear shot of me. I’m that excited.
Today is the very first post in a series of Summer Reading posts I have planned. EEEEK! You know how much I love to write about reading! Throughout the summer I will be sharing reading tips and activities. (I already have them all planned out… surprised?)
And guess what?!?! I haven’t even told you the best part. I’m not alone! Jamie from Hands On: As We Grow will be posting about summer reading as well. We will make it super easy for you to follow along by linking to each other in our posts.
Let’s make this a Summer full of Reading!
Making Quiet Reading a Priority
I have a confession. Although I know how important quiet reading is, I’ve yet to make it a part of our daily routine. It’s been at the top of my list for a while now but for some reason keeps getting moved down. Boo!
Now that M and M are both beginning readers I have to mark this one in pen… it’s happening. We are going to become a quiet reading family.
I made a list of the reasons we don’t already have a quiet reading time. Let’s knock them out one by one.
“We’re so busy, there isn’t time.”
This is kind of a funny one for me because down time is a big deal in our house. Our schedules are intentionally not jam packed because we like the kids to be free to move, play and create in their own space. This year we started baseball and softball. (They are so cute in their uniforms.) I cannot believe how much space that filled up on our calendar!
Even though the season is almost over I’m willing to bet there are a few of you that will still be using this excuse. So let’s figure it out. There are a lot of ways to add in quiet reading without using up a lot of time. (A little later in the summer I’ll be doing a more in-depth post on squeezing in 20 minutes of reading a day.)
- In the car.
- While the kids wait for breakfast.
- Before bed.
- In the bathroom.
“I don’t want to FORCE them to read.”
Neither one of my kids will just pick up a book and start reading. (I have a niece who has a stack of books with her all the time, M and M just aren’t like that.) When I start reading they sit with me and beg me to continue. The three of us love reading together so much, I want them to feel the same way about quiet reading. The last thing I want to do is force them into it.
I have to remember that good habits are formed just like bad habits! Getting them into the habit of quiet reading is probably all I have to do to have them begging for more reading time!
“Daddy is not a reader, makes it hard for a family activity.”
Before I go any further let me say this… although he doesn’t like to read, Hubby reads to the kids regularly. He knows it’s important and makes an effort. But reading isn’t a fun, relaxing adventure for him. That makes it a difficult for a family activity.
This summer instead of letting it stand in our way, we will make it a family CHALLENGE (we kind of like a challenge. 😉 ) The kids and I will make it our mission to find Dad a book that he wants to read. After all that has likely been the problem all along.
“But I want to read with them!”
Although this post may be giving you a different impression.. the truth is we read a lot. Or should I say, I read a lot. Wanting to be in control and a big part of their story time is probably the biggest reason quiet reading hasn’t taken hold. I love story time and I will miss it so much when they are reading on their own. I love being immersed in a plot that we talk about throughout the day. I love the “remember when that happened to Tom Sawyer” moments. (Oh my I’m totally tearing up right now! I guess I found the sore spot.)
Becoming a quiet reading family doesn’t mean the read-alouds have to stop. (I should probably write that on my hand.) It just means that we need to have both quiet reading time and story time scheduled in our day. As an added bonus that means I can read some adult books.
I have put this button on my side bar for the summer, as a reminder of making quiet reading a priority. Will you join me? Print out this picture and stick it on your fridge! If you’re a blogger grab the button and stick it on your side bar!
How will you make quiet reading a priority this summer?
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Yes. Yes. YES. Daily reading time is golden.
Thank you for the button!!! I know you share my love of reading, and promoting reading. I think it is beautiful that your children love to join you as you read. You said it: quiet reading doesn’t mean that reading aloud has to stop. Maybe you could make a rule: any time anyone who is reading silently finds something wonderful they want to share, they may read it aloud, and it will be listened to. My husband and I started reading aloud to each other as soon as we married, and read aloud to our kids. Now, most of the reading aloud is sharing what we have read silently.
I think the gradient goes: being read aloud to; reading along while being read aloud to; reading aloud on your own to others; reading silently to yourself — but being ready to share by reading aloud.
You can also notice a gradient: talking about what you have heard read to you; talking or writing about what you have read silently on your own; talking/writing about what you are observing when you are not reading.
(Maybe after that comes biting your nails while somebody else reads silently what you have written; Rejoicing as someone reads aloud what you have written!)
I love the idea of sharing the need things we come to in our quiet reading time! We start that right away!
I can’t believe I didn’t think of getting 3 of the same books so they can read along while I read. What a fantastic idea.
Susan you are wonderful. Thank you for all of those ideas and such an awesome comment!
We mentioned you in our post! Excited to use your great tips! Love your blog!
I am inspired! We are bedtime readers but I would love to have some daytime quiet reading when we aren’t so tired. My mom used to read to us until we were adults, it was great! As we matured, so did the books. When we were teenagers she read To Kill A Mockingbird over the course of a family vacation; it’s a great memory. You’re never to old to enjoy your mom reading out loud to you.
Oh Laura what a fantastic memory! Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂
Excellent post! And to comfort you in regards to read aloud time, I recently read some research that supported continuing read alouds for all ages and even recommended them in high school! The studies had shown significant differences in the working vocabularies of students who were read aloud to beyond the third grade. We are incorporating “family books” into our after dinner unwinding time. As their reading improves, I plan to have each child take a chapter to read aloud to the family from these books. Happy Reading!!
Oh I do hope they’ll still let me read to them when they’re in high school! I love your family reading time idea, what a fantastic way to wrap up the day.
My girls who can not read yet ( 3 & 4) participate in “silent”reading. They have the tag reader books and when I need a minute I simply tell them to grab a book and their pen and go read for a few. This usually last a lot longer than a few because they like me loooove books 🙂 Lucky I know 🙂 However, I never do find time for a book myself 🙁 I miss it oh so much! If I could just consider blogs a book…. maybe… I do love your blog, thank you for sharing.
Thank you for stopping by Cathy! How awesome that they use the Tag readers that way. M and M barely used theirs, and I had such great hopes for it.
And yes, I think blog reading counts!
We go to the library often so we will have new and exciting books to look over quietly.
Great idea! New books are a great way to inspire quiet reading.