Monday, May 24, 2010

Mommy Monday- Fostering a love of reading.

I'm a little sad this morning. Just realized the Super-Spawn will be spending the long weekend with his dad -- that means three weekends in a row without him. :( See, I'm the sappy kind of mom that if I never had to leave him with a sitter or let him go with someone else, I wouldn't.

Sure, it's nice to get a break once in a while when he's throwing tantrums non-stop. But to be honest, if it's just me and him -- there are no tantrums.

Okay, enough feeling sorry for myself. I get him all week long.


Today I want to talk about fostering reading in our kids. What do you do to get them to really love reading?


My whole parenting approach is to lead by example, and that doesn't differ when it comes to reading. Every night when I lay down, I read. So, every night when Super-Spawn lays down, I read to him. Well, usually he tries to insist that he is going to read to me, but being not quite three-years-old he actually can't. But he tells wonderful stories that all start with, "Once upon a time." Makes his mommy proud.

He thinks it's a game, to see how many books he can get me to read him in one night. That's why I started reading to him from Harry Potter. First, he loves the movies so he'll definitely love the books. Second, by the time I've read him two, or sometimes three, chapters he's out.

I'd love to hear what you think can be done to foster a love of reading in a child. If you have kids, what do you do? If you don't, how do you foster reading in the other children in your life (nieces, nephews, cousins, etc)?

4 comments:

Creepy Query Girl said...

I read to our girls every night before bed and we often write stories together. They love coming up with their own 'princess' adventures and when I read it back to them later on, they just think its fascinating.

Pam Harris said...

For my niece, I always ask her about what she's reading, and I give her recommendations as well. For my two nephews (who are 4 and 5), I get them to read a book to me, and let them see how excited I am from it. :)

Unknown said...

I always ask my cousins what they're reading. And I think it helps to ask them how they feel about what they read, or relate experiences in a book to real life. That way books are revealed as what they are- ways to understand what's happening around us.

I remember story time when I was a kid - it was so magical. My mom read to me every night and to this day I can't really sleep without reading a page or two at least. I think doing that consistently is the best way to go.

Tahereh said...

i don't have any children of my own, but i love your methods -- what a beautiful relationship you and your son share :)