For most families, especially homeschooling families, encouraging a love for reading is priority #1. We all recognize that reading = learning. A love for reading will likely lead to a love of learning.
Today I want to share 5 ways to celebrate National Reading Month by encouraging a love for reading!
Visit the Library
Take a field trip to your local public library and let your kids explore, choosing books they find interesting to check out. Print off a library scavenger hunt that will lead them all over the library learning how and where to gather information about subjects that interest them.
Create a Book Basket
Use a laundry basket or milk crate to create a book basket for each child. Fill the basket with books of their choosing — a mixture of fiction and nonfiction, picture and chapter books. Make a time each day for them to read from their own basket — 15 minutes for grades PreK-3, 30 minutes for grades 4-6, one hour for grades 7 and up. Read to your children who are of a pre-reading age, but also give them books with lots of pictures to “read” for themselves.
Here are a few reading lists with recommendations for books if you would like a starting place to help your students in their selections:
Middle School Summer Reading for Classical Kids
10 Must-Read Classics for High School
And for those eReaders:
Free Kindle Books: Kids Edition
170+ Classic Books on Kindle for Your Homeschool
Read Aloud to Your Kids
Choose a chapter book to read to your children for an hour each day. Lunch time works well, as does bed time. Give younger kids something to do with their hands while you read (drawing, coloring, Lego). Kids are never too old for read alouds. Read aloud even to your teens. For help with choosing books for reading aloud, I love The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease.
Write Creatively
Give your children opportunity to write creatively every day, stories from their own imagination. If they complain, “I don’t know what to write about,” offer some writing prompts or give them a simple picture book to “rewrite,” using their own imaginations. For children too young to write down their own stories, act as a scribe, writing for them as they dictate their stories to you.
Play Literacy Games
Children love playing games, and often don’t even realize they are learning as they play. Many board games, such as Scrabble, Boggle, and Wordplay encourage reading, spelling and vocabulary. There are also many literacy apps available for iPad or FireHD that are both fun and educational (and often FREE!).
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