A few years ago, I stumbled into a great way to bond with my children while building into their lives. It began with concern over my kid's reading skills. Or more accurately, lack of skill and interest. My nine-year old son was a reluctant reader, flipping through the same simple books over and over again. My seven-year old daughter was fast and careless, skipping unfamiliar words and missing huge concepts in the plot.
I decided to read a book out loud to my kids, hoping to spark a love of literature while modelling proper reading strategies. My experiment was successful beyond anything I could have imagined! The kids looked forward to our bedtime reading. They were eager to answer the chapter questions, in part because I awarded candy as a reward for detailed responses. The kids didn't want to stop after the first book. We went on to read the other 6 books in the series, and then set a goal of reading 100 books together.
Five years later, we've read 120 books as a family. As my children's comprehension and decoding skills have increased, so has their enjoyment. They're reading more and reading better. As happy as I am with the improvement in comprehension and reading skills, is the unexpected benefits that have proved the most valuable. We began our reading experiment with children in elementary school. My kids are now in middle school and high school; and we're still reading.
When other families have hit the troubling teen years and are talking less, our family is talking more. Hundreds of hours of reading together has brought us closer and built lasting family memories. Most important, discussions sparked from the books have provided opportunities to share values and beliefs while teaching our children to reason through their decisions and beliefs.
I remember hearing Dr. Laura say that "kids spell love, T I M E."
I have found that to be true in my family.
Gale
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