Sorry, moms and dads, but it's your job -- not the schools' -- to find books to get your kids reading and to make sure they read them.
Here's some good news: This can often be as easy as teaching children to ride a two-wheeler or to throw a baseball. Case in point: When our son, Jack, was 8, he wasn't a gung-ho reader. Now, I'm sure my wife, Sue, and I have made a half-million mistakes raising Jack, but during that eighth summer of our stewardship, we did something right: We told him he didn't have to mow the lawn (hooray!), but he was going to read every day (boo). http://bit.ly/pl8GKy
Tag Archive for: kids reading
Why Should I Read?
Excellent question! Why should you? Why should anyone? You could be doing hundreds of other things instead – watching a movie, preparing dinner, going for a run, or spending time with your family. But when your kids ask you the same question, you’d better have an answer prepared. “Because I told you to” probably won’t cut it. “Because it’s good for you” isn’t going to work either. At least not if you don’t have some solid evidence to back it up.
"Because it’s fun"
Let’s face it, most kids don’t love school. >>>=> http://bit.ly/i0rufA
"No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. She will not want new fashions nor regret the loss of expensive diversions or variety of company if she can be amused with an author in her closet."
— Lady Montagu, providing advice on raising her granddaughter, 1752
Great video: SESAME STREET: ELMO AND THE BOOKANEERS, PIRATES WHO LOVE TO READ
Watch it on Pivotal Kids the blog => http://bit.ly/c0FCZ0
Everyone needs a special reading nook where they can unwind and get really interested in a book. Kids need the same. It's hard to find a quiet place where a child isn't distracted by the television, computer games, iPods or gaming systems. A kids playhouse can be just the place for a child to escape to read.
As a parent, we need to encourage our children to read on a daily basis, but it's hard when there are so many things competing for your child's attention. A kids playhouse can be set up to be a comfortable and quiet environment that encourages quality reading time. It might be so inviting, that your child will actually choose to go to the playhouse to read without a battle. How many parents would love to be in that situation?
Here are several tips to make an outdoor play house into a reading nook that your child will want to go to for their reading pleasure:
1. Make it inviting. Place comfortable furniture in the playhouse like bean bag chairs or a comfortable rocking chair to sit in to read. Round it out with a favorite blanket and pillow and it would be hard for any child to resist coming to read in the playhouse. If you're very ambitious, consider putting a window seat in the playhouse that has a soft cushion and perhaps a curtain that can be drawn around the window seat for privacy. How cool would that private area be for getting away to read? Don't forget to have their favorite snacks on hand!
2. Have good lighting. It's important to have good lighting when your child reads. This could be via electric or battery powered lights or it could just mean that the playhouse has bright, natural lighting. Battery operated lighting can be an added "fun" factor because it's like camping and totally different from what their used to in the main house.
3. Encourage even more reading. To encourage even more reading, have additional books in the playhouse so that once a child is done with one book, they can easily pick up another and begin to read that book too. There are some great recommended reading lists available at the library or online that help parents or young readers choose age appropriate books. Or take your child to the library to have them pick out their own books. Make a rule to have the books stay in the playhouse so that the playhouse is considered the designated reading area.
4. Remove distractions. It may be obvious but if the children's playhouse will be used as a private reading space, you need to remove toys, electronics or other items that may potentially distract your child. Check the kids play house periodically to remove distractions that may have made their way into the playhouse.
Following these tips will make both your life easier and your child's life happier. You and your child will feel good when it's time to fill out your child's reading time log with extra minutes or even extra hours. You may want to pass the secret of your kids playhouse reading nook idea on to other parents too!
Sharon Marsh, Ph.D., is a consultant in the food industry. She is a kids playhouse enthusiast. If you would like to know more about a kids playhouse please check out http://www.kidsplayhouseblog.com for more information.
Reading methods are divided into four. The first is the phonics wherein children are being taught about the alphabet first. From there, kids will learn how to blend letters together.
The second reading method is called the “look and say” method. This is one method wherein children are taught how to recognize the whole word instead of relying on the sounds of the letters that form them. This is also that method where teachers pronounce the word and their pupils repeat after them.
As for the third method which is known as the language experience approach, the student actually learns how to read on his own. Your kids may start drawing some things then you will write the description of the drawing. You can continue to collect all the drawings the child makes then keep on writing descriptions of that drawing.
Lastly, the fourth method is called the context support method. In here, you should encourage the child to choose books or topics they are interested about. Know what your child likes and then start from simple books with pictures of these items.
With all these four reading methods, you will be able to find an available tool online. Examples of free tools are as follows:
This is a brilliant trailer, and concept!
If you would like to pre-order this book for someone special (yourself maybe?), you can do it at http://bit.ly/9dTfNq
We all go through stages of our lives that we lose interest in some thing that we once enjoyed. There can be many reasons for the lose of interest. After all, we all go through changes in our lives that may cause this sudden disinterest. For many of us the lose in interest is only temporary. We regain our interest within a rather short period of time.
What makes our children any different than us? Don't they have the right to lose interest in some thing that they once enjoyed? Of course they do! It is the amount of time that they lose interest that can be concerning. We must determine why they have lost interest. This not only pertains to a lose of interest in reading, but many of the other things in life that they once enjoyed to do.
Did they lose interest in reading in the summer time? This is perfectly natural reaction after a long 9 months of school. A short break of one or two weeks at the most is absolutely understandable. If it becomes any longer, then we must regain there interest. The best way to regain their interest is to get them reading again. Make it fun for them by letting them chose their own reading material. A family trip to your local book store not only gives them a multitude of choices, but it is also good for family bonding.
It could also be a case of they are having trouble in school and decided it was just too hard. Even the most attentive parents many not be aware of the difficulties they are having in school until weeks later. If it is available to you, keep in constant contact with their teacher(s). Many teachers will provide you with their email address at the beginning of the school year. Keeping in contact will give you a head start if there is an academic issue. Then you will be able to tackle the problem before it gets out of hand.
Many kids just want to get noticed. They may have the lose of interest just to capture some attention. Children need constant attention and some times negative attention is just as good as positive attention. Praising and complimenting your child can go along way. Even if we think it is not a big deal, it is to them.
Author Scott Constable: I realize that there are thousands upon thousands of children's books to choose from out there. We try our best to offer books that will most aide in a child's development. I am a father of four children.
http://www.childrensbooks2u.com
http://sconst71.wordpress.com
BOGGLE ... AND TV?
Story time isn't the only way to nurture young readers over the summer.
"Play board games," says Kelli Kilmartin, a former English teacher who is the Minnesota district manager of Sylvan Learning, a tutoring service. "Every school expert out there will tell you games like Scrabble, Boggle and Apples to Apples, anything that involves words, is going to help their vocabulary, which will increase their reading fluency."
To build reading comprehension and work on writing — often a lost art in the summer — Kilmartin recommends that parents could even use television to their advantage.
Between 2005 and 2007, author James Patterson gave away more than $600,000 to promote literacy through his annual PageTurner Awards. But when he noticed that his own elementary school-age son had become a reluctant reader, he decided that there had to be another way to get children excited about reading.
October marked the soft launch of his newest PageTurner project, ReadKiddoRead.com, which replaces the awards. By December, with almost no fanfare except for a mention in an interview with Al Roker and an ad in People magazine, the site attracted 20,000 visitors. It brings together reviews for books for newborns to teens, interviews with bestselling children’s authors like Jeff Kinney and Rick Riordan, and a book blog with reading lists by children’s literature consultant Judy Freeman, author of Books Kids Will Sit Still For.
