Reading

We have been making an extra effort recently to encourage the children to read books and listen to stories. I recently finished reading a book called The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease, in which the author highly correlates reading and listening to books with high test scores and academic success of children. I agree with Trelease's reasoning and I have already seen fruit from countless hours of reading books with Audrey, who is only 20 months old.

I have been checking out 20-30 books at a time from the library. A few of the books are for myself and the rest are for the children. One night I set the hardback library books up around the house, so that the covers were visible. This was really exciting for the kids and they were devouring the books that night. Because we don't have a TV for the children's easy access (from time to time they watch movies on the computer), books are something that they have time for in their daily life.

This morning we visited the library and they were quietly (this is rare in car rides) reading on the way home. They did check out comic books-- Donald Duck and Sonic. I have to be honest, I am less than thrilled with their choice of reading content. However, the author of The Read Aloud Handbook suggests that even when children are reading books at a much lower level of which they are capable (including comic books), they are still experiencing pleasure from reading, which will contribute to success in reading ability and interest. I still make great effort to provide much higher quality books in our home, which they do pick up to read on their own initiative.

Every night, with some exceptions, we have story time. I see that this is quickly becoming a family time that is very important to them. One night Lucas was walking out the door to go spend the night at Grandma's house. He called to me, "But, what about story time?" He wasn't sure how he felt about going to stay at Grandma's (which is always a special treat for each of the children) if he had to miss family story time. One of our favorite story time resources is Jim Weiss's Good Night: Enchanting Story Visualizations and Sweet Dreams: Enchanting Story Visualizations. The narrator speaks as if you are in a scene, such as a cabin on a cold and snowy winter night. The detailed language is enchanting, soothing and peaceful and encourages you to visualize yourself within the scence. We love these stories! Melody is always asking, "are we going to visualize tonight?"

For story time, we also read many different books aloud, such as The Complete Tales of Winnie-the Pooh. Other favorites have been any book by the author Jan Brett, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and lots of Christmas picture story books. We are slowly working up to chapter books, at the same time still enjoying picture story books.