We are a family of bookworms. In fact, I often say, “Stop reading and go do something.”
People have asked me how I get my kids to read. First of all, I’m not getting them to read; often I’m trying to get them to stop! According to some schools of thought, that could be one of the reasons they love to read. (Smiles.)
Seriously, though, these are the factors that I’ve identified:
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My husband and I love reading. (It’s funny, though, that I’ve lost that desire lately. Hmm. Perhaps because I’m online instead?)
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We have no TV and rarely watch movies.
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We limit computer time. (See number 1.)
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We have lots of neat books and we leave them lying around. While this is bad for décor, it’s great for learning.
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We are addicted to libraries and book sales.
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I love reading aloud.
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We emphasize good books and limit literary junk.
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We emphasize up-building books and avoid moral junk.
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We don’t push early reading and don’t worry if our children do not read fluently until they are 8 years old. None of them did, so far. (But once they started, they didn’t stop.)
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We do not reward our children for reading; reading is the reward.
Other Blog Cruise posts this week address the question, “What do you do if your child doesn’t like to read?” but I had to tweak the question a bit for our family.
This post was featured in the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival as well as in A Homeschooling Carnival.
My kids are late readers themselves, but with the amount I read to them in a day, everyone of them that learns to read is already addicted to the written word! Neat to read your blog!
LOL at #4… we have books decorating our home too. 🙂
Debra at http://debrakb.blogspot.com/
I too am a tremendous reader…I LOVE it. I too have to be self controlled about not reading too much!
I feel like one of my major jobs as a mom is to keep a look out for good books for our kids. We are careful now as the eldest is only 10. She and the next child, age 8, are beginning to be discerning about what they read and will sometimes comment on a bad attitude or message in a book. What a joy that is!
I think living a life with lots of books around does make a big difference. My dh loves computer games and the kids are allowed a couple of hours of screen time a day which is a lot, but still…that leaves a lot of time for other things like reading. I've realized that this is a way he bonds with them and that is GREAT.
Also, it hasn't kept our kids from loving reading, thankfully.
Laraba
I've recently blogged about my book craze lately. I have been buying so many books lately and I still have some on my wish list. It's the greatest pasttime and I'm thrilled when my kids are reading too!
Funny how my years of getting one son to love reading has me now chasing him to STOP reading and do other work!
We love books here and the shelves we own can't contain all the books we own. It's an illnes, I tell ya'. But, it's an illness I'll take any day of the week.
We're bookworms, too! Thanks for sharing this with the CM blog carnival! 🙂
I found myself laughing at #4 as well. We have the same decorator.
Happy reading!
Richele
http://www.BarefootVoyage.blogspot.com