Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Raising Readers

My children love to read.
In this year, my son has read 9,447 pages. His stack of books measures 26 inches tall. These were the books he read for PLEASURE, not for any assigned schoolwork. This stack includes classics by Alexander Dumas, Animal Farm by George Orwell, and Lord of the Flies by William Golding just to name a few. (I think you can click on the pictures for a closer look.)

My daughter has read 9,013 pages this year, and her stack of read books measures 26.5 inches tall. (This was her big year in Nancy Drew!)

4 comments:

Gregg, Mandi, Lucie, Griffin, Drew and Caleb said...

very impressive! I hope Lucie and Griffin love to read as much a your two :)

Nana said...

OK! For birthdays and Christmas next year all they get are gift cards to Barnes & Noble!!!! That's easy!!

Dani said...

I agree with Mandi. I really hope my boys love to read. It is very hard to encourage reading in boys without being too legalistic and forcing them to hate it. It is a very fine line. Any tips to those of us with younger ones...

Camera Clicker said...

Tips to raise readers....well, likely unpopular ones.
Like no dvd players, video games in the car on trips. Bring some music, bring some books, look out the window, have family conversation. It's amazing what kids can actually handle with high expectations. Are my kids constantly entertained that way? No. Are they bored sometimes? Yep. BUT they also reach for the nearest thing that might be entertaining in some way~ books! Then they get into a story and want to see how it turns out, and they find they even enjoy reading.

I do think that some kids are just natural readers, while some aren't. My sister didn't love reading nearly as much as I did, and we were raised by the same parents in the same way. So there is a natural bent in some folks to be readers.

It can be grown and fostered in kids too. I'm not sure I know too many kids that would choose a book over playing a video game or watching the latest movie that has come out, so it's a matter of saying NO to that stuff at times.

Another side note~ my kids get 45 minutes of computer time a day. Period. They set the kitchen timer when they get on and get off when the timer goes off.
That comes after they have completed school work AND piano practice.