Just Read

How do you read to your kids? I often hear, “Even if you do nothing else, just be reading to your kids.” Why do you read to your kids? To make them readers? That’s halfway there, but the other half is critical.

We don’t read to our kids to make them readers; we read to our kids to teach them life. Whether due to school cancellations over the last 18 months, or this time of year being generally difficult to keep up with schooling, I hear parents who are weary and looking for manageable ways to help their kids learn. I want to remind you that the simplest form of teaching important, valid, and necessary information is through interactive reading.

Reading covers ELA–including writing, grammar, and vocabulary–social studies/history, geography, sociology, and science.

I still read aloud to my 7th grader. We read informational books; we read novels; we read poetry; we read biographies; we read science. The lesson is in the interaction. The lesson is in the discussion. The lesson happens when she asks at the end of a paragraph, “Why did he do that?” “Do you like the way she treated him? “How does a catapult work?”

You now have the opportunity to give your opinion, research the facts, find a new country on a map, discuss attitudes towards others, explore foods from other cultures, or look into some simple physics. Take advantage of the interest your child expressed. Listening to what is important to him is golden; you get the extra benefit of getting to know your child.

While you take advantage of those opportunities, you are also teaching vocabulary, pronunciation, sentence structure, and grammar. The verbal exchange is key to these lessons. Audio books are great at times, but they don’t pause and answer your kids’ questions.

The best part is it’s low pressure. You don’t have to go in with a list of comprehension questions and teaching goals. You can, but if that’s your sole focus, you are going to dry up this experience and have resistant kids. Sprinkle in your jewels of wisdom in bits and pieces through the discussion they began with their questions.

Finally, read your children material you enjoy. There are histories that make me snooze. Science books that bore. Junk literature that makes my eyes glaze over. I won’t read this stuff aloud to my kids. We are in it together, so it’s got to hold some value to me too. And read it with enthusiasm. Use funny accents. Use emotion. Use volume, be human with your reading. Model to them why books are worth it. Books have life in them, and even more than literacy, we want to teach our kids life. Especially in the most frustrating times when life is handing you challenges–when you aren’t sure you can do much else– bringing life to your kids through reading is imperative.How do you read to your kids? I often hear, “Even if you do nothing else, just be reading to your kids.” Why do you read to your kids? To make them readers? That’s halfway there, but the other half is critical.

We don’t read to our kids to make them readers; we read to our kids to teach them life. Whether due to school cancellations over the last 18 months, or this time of year being generally difficult to keep up with schooling, I hear parents who are weary and looking for manageable ways to help their kids learn. I want to remind you that the simplest form of teaching important, valid, and necessary information is through interactive reading.

Reading covers ELA–including writing, grammar, and vocabulary–social studies/history, geography, sociology, and science.

I still read aloud to my 7th grader. We read informational books; we read novels; we read poetry; we read biographies; we read science. The lesson is in the interaction. The lesson is in the discussion. The lesson happens when she asks at the end of a paragraph, “Why did he do that?” “Do you like the way she treated him? “How does a catapult work?”

You now have the opportunity to give your opinion, research the facts, find a new country on a map, discuss attitudes towards others, explore foods from other cultures, or look into some simple physics. Take advantage of the interest your child expressed. Listening to what is important to him is golden; you get the extra benefit of getting to know your child.

While you take advantage of those opportunities, you are also teaching vocabulary, pronunciation, sentence structure, and grammar. The verbal exchange is key to these lessons. Audio books are great at times, but they don’t pause and answer your kids’ questions.

The best part is it’s low pressure. You don’t have to go in with a list of comprehension questions and teaching goals. You can, but if that’s your sole focus, you are going to dry up this experience and have resistant kids. Sprinkle in your jewels of wisdom in bits and pieces through the discussion they began with their questions.

Finally, read your children material you enjoy. There are histories that make me snooze. Science books that bore. Junk literature that makes my eyes glaze over. I won’t read this stuff aloud to my kids. We are in it together, so it’s got to hold some value to me too. And read it with enthusiasm. Use funny accents. Use emotion. Use volume, be human with your reading. Model to them why books are worth it. Books have life in them, and even more than literacy, we want to teach our kids life. Especially in the most frustrating times when life is handing you challenges–when you aren’t sure you can do much else– bringing life to your kids through reading is imperative.How do you read to your kids? I often hear, “Even if you do nothing else, just be reading to your kids.” Why do you read to your kids? To make them readers? That’s halfway there, but the other half is critical.

We don’t read to our kids to make them readers; we read to our kids to teach them life. Whether due to school cancellations over the last 18 months, or this time of year being generally difficult to keep up with schooling, I hear parents who are weary and looking for manageable ways to help their kids learn. I want to remind you that the simplest form of teaching important, valid, and necessary information is through interactive reading.

Reading covers ELA–including writing, grammar, and vocabulary–social studies/history, geography, sociology, and science.

I still read aloud to my 7th grader. We read informational books; we read novels; we read poetry; we read biographies; we read science. The lesson is in the interaction. The lesson is in the discussion. The lesson happens when she asks at the end of a paragraph, “Why did he do that?” “Do you like the way she treated him? “How does a catapult work?”

You now have the opportunity to give your opinion, research the facts, find a new country on a map, discuss attitudes towards others, explore foods from other cultures, or look into some simple physics. Take advantage of the interest your child expressed. Listening to what is important to him is golden; you get the extra benefit of getting to know your child.

While you take advantage of those opportunities, you are also teaching vocabulary, pronunciation, sentence structure, and grammar. The verbal exchange is key to these lessons. Audio books are great at times, but they don’t pause and answer your kids’ questions.

The best part is it’s low pressure. You don’t have to go in with a list of comprehension questions and teaching goals. You can, but if that’s your sole focus, you are going to dry up this experience and have resistant kids. Sprinkle in your jewels of wisdom in bits and pieces through the discussion they began with their questions.

Finally, read your children material you enjoy. There are histories that make me snooze. Science books that bore. Junk literature that makes my eyes glaze over. I won’t read this stuff aloud to my kids. We are in it together, so it’s got to hold some value to me too. And read it with enthusiasm. Use funny accents. Use emotion. Use volume, be human with your reading. Model to them why books are worth it. Books have life in them, and even more than literacy, we want to teach our kids life. Especially in the most frustrating times when life is handing you challenges–when you aren’t sure you can do much else– bringing life to your kids through reading is imperative.