Do you want to get your kids excited about reading? If so, get ready for the countdown: ten days of ideas that will get you and yours into reading!
Today’s recommendation is for the introvert in many of us. I’m an introvert, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I need a little quiet time every so often. I rarely get time to sit down in a quiet place and read a book. Usually, the house is bustling around me, and I’m trying to ignore that next thing that I need to do because the book is just so interesting. My reading is punctuated by “mom, can you help me with this” just like yours is, I’d imagine.
But for kids, especially introverted kids, having a safe, quiet, and pleasurable space in which to read is essential. I see my daughter struggling to sound out words, and I know that if the television’s on in the background and other people are running around her, she’ll find it just that much harder to break the code.
Creating a quiet spot for reading is one way to encourage your children to read. I mean quiet in the broadest sense of the word. An ideal spot would be a reading nook: a place that feels perfectly safe for your child. Think about a corner of the room with soft pillows, low walls that shield children from other things that are going on in the house. Perhaps this could feel like a fort, and even have a box or a canopy to give children a feeling of enclosure. Stock the area with your child’s favorite books.
You can also create quiet traditions around reading. Many families read right before bed and after bath time, when children are relaxed. For many years, we did not, since my daughter would be excited right before bed. When my daughter was very small, sometimes we read while she nursed.
What do you do to create a safe and quiet space to encourage your child to read?
Image Credit: A Dassel