Reading: Real Life Reading

Encouraging Reading in Daily Life

 

            Today's Snack: If you want to get "real" about after-school snacks, then go to the classic: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread (whole-wheat snuck into the dough but you'll never notice) with a tall glass of milk and an apple on the side. Yeah! That's real-life eatin'. And it's good, too.

 

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Supplies:

Take this checklist through your home

and change things to make your home more reader-friendly

 

 

            It's unbelievable how many books some well-off families have in their homes. Many have hundreds or even thousands of books. No wonder their kids tend to do better on standardized tests: vocabulary doesn't just fall from the sky.

 

            Having a lot of reading material around the house is a key component of making your home "reader-friendly," which in turn encourages kids to . . . DUH! . . . read.

 

            But you don't have to break the bank and buy a lot of books and magazines. All it takes is a thoughtful eye, and a few changes in your family's lifestyle, and you'll ALL be reading maniacs in no time!

 

 

NO TV Zone

Some families - wise families - banish the TV on school days and nights. That keeps the tube special for watching on weekends . . . and keeps everybody's eyes free to devour books instead!

 

 

Reading Hour Right Before Bed

Get your homework and your phone calls done earlier, and devote that last hour before bed to reading. The whole family can spend that last hour before hitting the hay with their noses in books. You can all sit in the same room and just enjoy each other's company while you maybe nibble on a bedtime snack, get calm and sleepy, and enjoy a stress-free sendoff to Sleepytime Village.

 

 

Keep Books Within Reach

Make sure there are plenty of books within reach of everyone in your family, so any of you can pick one up whenever they want. Include newspapers, catalogs and magazines, too!

 

 

Drawing Time
Always have markers, colored pencils, regular pencils, and blank paper available so that anyone who wants to can make art. It's a lot of fun to always draw an illustration to help you remember each book you've read. If the whole family does that, it makes it really fun.

 

 

Write a Story Together
Get kids interested in books by showing them how to make their OWN books! First, a kid draws a picture, and writes a title at the bottom. Then, another family member draws a second picture on another piece of paper, with a paragraph that begins a story that the art work suggests. Then other family members get into the act, everyone taking a page and developing the story plus illustrations.

 

 

Be a Regular at the Library
One family rule is that you have to read a whole book before you can check out a new movie at the library. Another family has a tradition that, every other Saturday, they go to the library right after lunch, and then they get ice-cream cones. That's the idea! Make reading something to look forward to - something special. Make sure each child in the family has a library card, and go there maybe once every other week to turn in old books and check out new ones. Make it a familiar and friendly experience, an outing to look forward to.

 

 

Parents Should Read Aloud a Half-Hour a Day

Make sure to pause and point things out to the child while you're reading. Ask questions about stories as you read them and discuss plots and characters after you're done to develop reading comprehension skills. Let the child ask questions and make comments, too. This should be more like a conversation than anything else. If a parent can't read aloud, an older sibling or grandparent should. Or you can ask a nice neighbor, and cook a meal every now and then to pay him or her back.

 

 

Make Your Own Books on Tape
Tired of reading the same books again and again? Record yourself or a friend or a grandparent or anybody else who wants to, reading bedtime stories. Then you or your siblings can listen to them whenever you want — at bedtime, while playing, or in the car.

 

 

Label Everything
Putting signs or stickers on things around the house is a great way to connect language with concrete objects. One book of sticky-tack notes is inexpensive, but a child will have a ball going around the house labeling everything in sight.

 

 

How Was Your Day?
Take time to describe to your family members what happened to you during an ordinary day. What did you see? What did you hear? What was funny? What was beautiful? What was surprising or sad or different? As you get used to paying attention to the "storylines" of your day, you'll be able to get in to other kinds of "storylines," including reading for school, for fun, and someday, for work.