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Read to Them!

by Shauna Smith Duty

“Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.”
--Joseph Addison

Maybe it’s the nightly mountains of homework and mandatory reading the schools require, or maybe it’s television and technology that’s getting in the way. It could be that we’re on schedule overload with all the sports and lessons and clubs and commitments. Whatever is causing American families to spend less time reading together, it can’t be worth the sacrifice.

According to Eileen Chepenik of the Trident Literary Association, 25% of Americans are at a Level 1 literacy rating, the lowest possible score on a scale of one to five. A survey by the National Endowment for the Arts found that 98% of adults claim they watch television instead of reading. In the last decade there was a 10% decline in adults who read literature. The NEA also reported that students’ inability to read and comprehend schoolwork is the most common reason kids drop out. Parents who have to make their elementary school children read thirty minutes each night use words like “tortuous” and “painstaking” to describe the experience.

When C.S. Lewis wrote The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, I doubt his hope was for future generations to see his works as a burden, a chore assigned to them. My children would have never peeked their little faces into that dark wardrobe and experienced the chill and adventure brewing in Narnia without me holding their hands and leading them into the woods. The experience of traveling with them from the non-fiction surroundings of our living room sofa, into the fairy tale world of hopes and dreams beyond those they could ever fathom outside of fiction, is priceless.

Each page of Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson, offered lessons for learning about another time, another place. Opportunities to discuss our family values and guide my children into a reasonable understanding of complex topics – like alcohol abuse and death – came from taking them into the old English tavern and onto the deck of the mutinied ship. How much easier it was to explain good versus evil through the character of Long John Silver than it would have been through the non fiction counterparts that terrorize the world today. And yet the children understand real life situations better because of the insight they gained through the fictional characters in the pages of our great books.

How does a family turn reading torture into reading triumph? First, you must make the time. Great parenting is a costly investment, and time is a precious commodity. There will forever be a lack of time in your life. Priorities must be set, and reading with your children is vitally important. They must see you set the example by forging out time in your schedule and following through on your commitment. Children want to be grown up and do grown up things. You drive, and your son wants to drive. You watch television, and your daughter wants to watch television. You read, and guess what? They’ll want to read, too.

If a child already has an aversion to reading, if they find it daunting or boring, you must find a way to make it interesting. Let’s say little Johnnie is playing Legos or Game Boy in the living room one Saturday evening at bedtime. You’ve found a book that you loved as a child, or maybe the book that influenced Johnnie’s favorite movie. Nonchalantly ease into your favorite chair and put your feet up. Open the book and begin reading aloud. There may be strange looks, or even a protest from your child, but don’t give up. Just read. You may find that Johnnie ends up in your lap before the second chapter comes to a close. He might even start reading along with you.

What if your child doesn’t show interest in your oral reading? Encourage him to draw illustrations for the book while you’re reading to him, or to build the castles, ships, or little houses in your story setting with blocks. My daughter loves to hear a story, and then act it out with her dolls. Discuss the characters, plotline, and morals of the stories with your children. What do they think will happen next? Leave them wanting more. Take every opportunity to apply what you’ve read together to real life situations. Expand their minds and their understanding by opening a discussion about how the story makes them feel and what it makes them think about.

Keep in mind, not every book you like will interest your children, and there may be some you don’t particularly care for that they love. If no one is interested, don’t be discouraged. Most likely, you just need a different book. It’s okay to stop after a few chapters and start another story. If you are going to begin and continue family reading in your home, you will have to find the right fit – the right books, the right location, and the right time of day – to make the activity one you all look forward to.

Many teachers will allow you to document family reading on a student’s nightly reading log. What a wonderful way to save time! Often parents will see their children reading independently because a love for literature grows and flourishes when a parent integrates it into a family lifestyle. Keep books readily accessible to your children, in all rooms of the house. Take your family to the library to choose books together, and separately. Give bookstore gift certificates for birthdays (and toss in a gift certificate for hot chocolate at the coffee shop as an added treat).

There is an old concept resurfacing on the pages of newspapers throughout the country. Breakfast Serials, brief serialized story segments, are reaching ten million Americans each week, and could help provide a convenient weekly source of family reading time in your home. Your child may already be reading Breakfast Serials in their classroom. Currently it is read by over two million students ages 10-18 in American schools. Check your local newspaper for a chapter a week or visit www.breakfastserials.com on the Web for more information.

Reading with your children is the multivitamin for learning. Not only does it foster skills in language, writing, critical thinking, creativity, attention, and logic, but it affords parents an opportunity for teaching values and morals. It breeds closer relationships and open communication between parents and children in a way that no other activity can. Can your family afford not to invest in a family reading time?

4 Comments

CAV_Mod	Mon, Apr 03, 2006 8:59pm What are your child's favorite books or stories. What are your best memories of that first book you read together?
chanda95	Thu, Nov 06, 2008 9:10am My son loves, absolutely loves, books. I have surrounded him with books from the day he was born. I used to sit on the floor with him when he was an infant and read to him..and now, at just 2 years old, he goes to his books and will sit on he floor and flip through pages and look at the pictures and be quite content going through book after book...We read anywhere from 5 to 10 books a day and I have noticed that he is really developing a long attention span and will sit through the longer books. I try to make them interactive and I will ask him to find things or to tell me what color something is...or to make the sound of the animal we see....I think it helps with his retention too.
amandale	Thu, Oct 23, 2008 6:57am I read to Nhi, and I like to think it is doing some good, but half the time she barely pays attention, LOL... well I'll keep doing it!
lilboyblue	Fri, Jun 02, 2006 2:06pm I've been reading to kabryl from when he was inside the womb and he loves books now. loves to hear you read to him as well as show him the pictures. Reading to children is very important at a young age. It helps them to actually want to do it for themselves.

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