Every room in my home is filled with books. Believe it or not, so is my car! My youngest son drags his favorites each morning before school and reads while I drive. I really have NO idea how he can do this, because I can’t be in a moving vehicle while reading.
Point being, ENVIRONMENT is key. Reading materials should available and accessible at all times.
There are books at our kitchen table.
I often read-aloud to a captive audience while they play in the tub.
For those of you who are crafty, book bins that are decorated by theme can pique the interest of the little ones in your house. I’m in the midst of making a dinosaur bin, because one of my sons has been abducted by dinosaurs.
One of your most important jobs as a parent is to make YOUR love for reading contagious. If you are not a reader, it’s a grand time to start. My husband isn’t a bookworm like I am, but he’s always reading newspapers, magazines, and websites. Even though it’s a bit old-fashioned, we still subscribe to our local papers and magazines.
Research actually shows that the number of books in a home correlates with a child’s future education level.
Granted, my years in the classroom and running a private tutoring company have our home stocked with books. I dreaded moving if only because of our book collection.
The world of reading has changed dramatically in the past few years because of e-books. I think e-books have actually increased reading because we can read on our phones, but young children do best with limited screen time, so paper books reign supreme. I recall an article in the Chicago Tribune a few months back that children’s publishing is one of the few categories where paper books still dominate. There is something to be said about the the tactile necessity of paper books. Given that we are in the digital age, it’s time to make that technology work FOR us, not AGAINST us. When you do watch television or movies as a family, make that screen time work for you with this amazing tip.
For now, take the time to build your home libraries, fill each room of your home with books, get comfy, snuggle up, and read. Even if money is tight, you can build a massive home/classroom/homeschool library on a dime with some of the ideas I wrote about here.
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Nicolette
Sharing @Tatertoots&Jello
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