Reading aloud as a family has been important to me. In the past it has sometimes fallen by the wayside of crazy schedules, general fatigue and my own forgetfulness. I decided to start the
Little House on the Prairie series with the boys with the goal of getting through the first two books before school starts. With the occasional help from grandma, we are making good progress and should finish
Little House in the Big Woods this week.
I learned something from this recent reading quest:
If it is a book that I enjoy, I am much more likely to read it to the boys.
It seems obvious, but I used to look for books that I thought they would like. Many of them didn’t interest me and it was hard to keep my reading momentum going.
For me it has been easier to get a family ritual of
reading to STICK if it is fun.
And now for some more
fun…
VTech is helping families make reading fun through the VReader and I am giving one away!
Yep. It is the
new VTech Animated VReader (your choice blue or pink) and a surprise book/game cartridge.
To enter:
- Leave a comment below about how your family reads together or ideas you have to encourage a family reading ritual.
- Additional entries (please leave a comment below for each):
THIS CONTEST WILL CLOSE WEDNESDAY JULY 14 at MIDNIGHT (CST).
So hurry and enter!
I will notify the winner on Thursday via email to obtain their mailing address to forward on to VTech who is sponsoring this giveaway.
Thanks VTech!
So hurry and enter!
I will notify the winner on Thursday via email to obtain their mailing address to forward on to VTech who is sponsoring this giveaway.
Thanks VTech!
We read a lot in our home. My husband is a kindergarten teacher, so we have a lot of book to switch out with his classroom library. We read at least 2 books before bed and he keeps 2 in his crib to “read” to his stuffed monkey.
We are a constantly reading family around here! We read first thing in the morning while we rub sleepies out of our eyes before breakfast. We read after stumbling in the door from the monring full of running and playing. We read cuddled up togetherin the big boy bed before nap time. We read with daddy after dinner when he comes home and daddy reads to them — alone — before turning out the lights at the end of the day.
~kelly
My kids are grownups now but this was what I did to get them into reading / reading rituals:
Reading them nursery rhymes / Dr Seuss / simple stories (one or two sentences per page and if there were more, condense if the pictures were fun) from the time they were born. At naptime, at bedtime, any time there was a quiet time, reading aloud.
From the time the first one was born, there was a bookshelf in our main room that was just for her – and later all the kids’ – books. Even now, there are no less than THREE bookshelves in Lovey’s house with all the children’s books the kids collected over the years that they haven’t taken with them. There are even some on those shelves from MY childhood.
My older two had several “turn-the-page” books with little 45 records or tapes with someone reading the stories – I even made tapes of myself reading their favorites. They both were reading on their own by the time they were 4.
SO the VTech version of the “turn-the-page” books are what I want for my grandchildren. Having downloadable stories will be AWESOME especially if they are free. I figure my grandkids will get one for Christmas whether I win one or not.
One other thing that we did back in the day before in-car DVD players (heck we didn’t even have a VCR in the HOUSE), I used to listen to tapes (oh yeah I’m old) of classical and instrumental music in the car and tell made up stories to go along with the music. The downside of that was I could never tell exactly the same story twice.
I’m subscribed to junecleavernirvana:)
Following VTECHTOYS on Twitter:)
Just posted the contest to facebook!
My husband and I are both bookworms! And we hope someday our toddler will grow up to be excited over books too. Right now she is two- so we have board books easily available to her when she plays. She regularly grabs them and pretends to read! My husband also reads her 3 or 4 books before bed each night- and she is always excited to go to bed for just that reason. We swap out books as seasons change- but the last book always stays the same “Goodnight my Duckling” – it’s the signal that bedtime is next:)
follow vtech toys on twitter: @shootingstarmag
I would suggest making it more fun. Have a craft or a snack that relates to the book. Or read a book that is a movie and promise to show them the film if they read the book first.
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