The other day I made a joke that we should have a family reading block. My 29-year-old niece and I were discussing the fact that the last time she read a book was when she was in high school. My family does not read for pleasure (the newspaper does not count). I never knew this until I moved back home after Katrina. For some reason I just assumed that since I love to read and was a writer to boot, then my family had to have the same literary zeal. But they don’t share my enthusiasm.
I’m glad that Tyler loves to read. Then again he’s been around books all his life and I suppose having a mother who’s also a writer, well, he didn’t have much choice. I recall sitting many days at the library doing research while he slept in his stroller. One day the staff even remarked how he was growing up right before their eyes. But back to the reading block. Although I said it jokingly I realized that having a reading block is a great family activity. At Tyler’s school they have a reading block each morning from 8 until 10. During this time every class is involved in a reading activity. The P.E. coach, his aide and the other three instructional aides all help out during this time so that if any student who needs extra reading assistance can have it.
I don’t advocate forcing your kids to read for pleasure. I think it will only backfire. But if you instill a love of reading in your children when they are young and if you set an example by reading yourself, you can grow a reader. That’s where a reading block can help. You can start off by reading to your kids when they are young but the goal is to grow independent readers. This will give you a chance to read that bestseller that’s been sitting on your bookshelf gathering dust.
Setting up a reading block is easy. And you don’t have to do it every day if you can’t swing it. The goal is to have everyone reading at the same time a few days a week. If 30 minutes is all the time that you can allocate that’s fine. During the block everyone reads. For younger kids who can’t read yet, give them a nice picture book to look through.
You can take it a step further and start a family book club and have everyone read the same book and discuss it later. As parents we need to find ways to stay connected to our kids. Reading is just one of the ways we can do that.
See also:
Finding Books For Family Storytime
Using Audio Books During Family Storytime