Reading Aloud and Abandoning Books

My 10 year old and I have been flying through read-alouds together since April or May.  From about September-March, we struggled through a few books together.

He is always a willing and eager listener, even to the slowest stories, which amazes impatient me. This is one reason why I don’t want to give up this reading-together thing we have going. There’s not an abundance of things for he and I to bond over nowadays, seeing as how I’m not into video games, BUT we both still enjoy reading and responding to books together.

For Chronic Book Abandoners & Reluctant Readers

Do you have a reluctant reader in the house or classroom? Or maybe you have a “chronic book abandoner”–one who just can’t stick with a single book to completion. It’s a common problem, but I have a suggestion: Mysteries.

Why mysteries? Mysteries generate questions, and when we have questions, we naturally want answers. Sometimes I will keep reading a book I’m not even that “into” just to get my questions answered. Questions compel us to keep reading. This may be what your reluctant reader or chronic abandoner needs to finish a book!

Summertime, and the Reading Is Easy

Last week, I recommended audiobooks and reading to and with your kids, as ways to engage them with reading. You can catch up here: Two Tips to Get Kids Reading This Summer.

I often have friends ask me for specific book recommendations for their children. The lists I give vary according to what I know and what they tell me about their kids’ interests, ages, and books they like already. Because I’m putting these recommendations out to everyone, I’m making them more general.

The bottom line: Find them books they CAN and WANT to read (or listen to). 

Here are some high-interest suggestions to get kids reading independently and willingly:

Two Tips to Get Kids Reading This Summer

I recently had two encounters at the local library that stuck with me.

The first: Seth and I were looking through the audiobooks and playaways for him, and a mom approached me and asked for audiobook recommendations for her son, age 7. This is my dream encounter. Usually I overhear people debating what books to get their kids and am dying to put my two cents in; this lady flatout asked for my input! If you have ever asked me for suggestions, you know that you might get more than you bargained for. I gave her several suggestions, based on her son’s age and interests.

This leads me to my first summer reading tip: Let the kids listen to audiobooks.

Apples and Oranges

Hello everyone! Holiday time, and our children’s thoughts turn to giving and being together, right? Ha! If yours are like mine, it’s a fight against bigger is better, and the more presents, the merrier. I had the opportunity to blog over at NWAMotherlode.com today about using special holiday books to plant seeds of contentment in our young ones. Hope you’ll join me here: Christmas books to read with the kids

Connecting with Our Kids through Literature

My 8-year old son loves Minecraft and other video/computer games. He also enjoys science and math. I like science, not really math, and my idea of a fun computer game is the old Carmen Sandiego game series from the ’90s (and seriously, why has no one made an awesome Carmen app?) or the Nancy Drew computer games that I have absolutely no time to play. I’m not counting on us growing more alike over time–probably the opposite.

Here is how that thought makes me feel–the face in the middle

And that’s why I find our shared time over texts* to be so special and important. No matter what widely different interests we have, we like curling up in a chair and sharing a good book. I love that and will hold onto it as long as possible.

Connecting over a text can happen in many different ways. Here are some examples from our house.

Books We Enjoyed This Summer

I have read quite a bit this summer and will share my favorites in a couple posts, along with age groups they are intended for. Picture books and easier chapter books in this first post.

So, I am a little behind on this one, but maybe others are too. I like Jan Brett a lot–Gingerbread Baby, The Mitten, The Three Snow Bears, Annie and the Wild Animals, many others–all cute. But when I met Cinders, I was completely and totally charmed. If I was crazy and kept chickens in my backyard like some of my friends, I would be even more crazy over this one than I am. Seriously, y’all. Cinderella with chicken characters. Enough said. My new favorite Jan Brett book.

Let Them Listen

When was the last time you chose to do something you’re not good at and that makes you feel dumb? (If you can’t think of anything that makes you feel dumb and crummy when you try it, maybe you haven’t tried anything new in awhile.)

It’s humbling to remember what that feels like, and then to connect that to how our children may feel in certain situations, whether it’s trying a new sport, starting a new school year with harder classes, or picking up a book to read.

I’ve talked with a lot of parents lately who are concerned about their children’s reading habits. The problem I hear most often is the child is struggling, maybe behind, and therefore doesn’t enjoy reading. It makes perfect sense when you think about that feeling. Do you ever choose to do something you stink at? Maybe grudgingly, maybe only when forced.

Being a Miss Agnes: Writing for Our Kids

There’s a sweet little book called The Year of Miss Agnes, by Kirkpatrick Hill, about a teacher who moves to a remote part of Alaska to teach in a one-room schoolhouse (back in the late 1940’s). The families in the area rely on the fishing industry, and previous teachers were annoyed by the constant smell of fish on the children and their inability to relate to simple American reading primers like Dick and Jane. The children are far behind in their academic skills and have little hope that a new teacher will be different.

But Miss Agnes is different. She embraces the culture and the children from the get-go, hanging their artwork on the walls, reading them stories they’ve never heard before like Robin Hood, and best of all, she writes them stories they can relate to–stories about the children themselves and their families!

Halloween Poems (and How They Can Inspire Your Child’s Creativity)

Certain Halloween poetry takes me right back to childhood.

 Three little ghostesses,                                                                                                              

Sitting on postesses,                                                                                                                

Eating buttered toastesses.                                                                                                  

Greasing their fistesses,                                                                                                                  

Up to their wristesses,                                                                                                                        

Oh! What beastesses,                                                                                                                      

To make such feastesses! 

I always preferred fun rhythmic, rhyming poetry, and throwing in a little nonsense made it even better. I still prefer this style of poetry above all others, as do most of our children.

If children read poetry they truly enjoy, it will inspire many of them to create their own poetry.