My Kids Taught me how to READ

Reading:  A House is not a Home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body
Margaret Fuller

No, not literally!  But my son & daughter have had a tremendous influence on my passion and joy for reading.  My daughter's style is "carnivorous", eating through a book a day, or a series in a week.  My son "grazes" through books; reading up to 4 or 5 at a time and my wife is a combination of the two.  I have learned to read multiple books at a time from my son, while devouring a good book in a day or weekend like my daughter, but at a slower pace.

How it all started:


During the summer months my kids and wife would read at home, at the beach, or in the car...they seemed to be always reading!  Finally, one day they said to me, "daddy- why don't you read?"  This question was a turning point in my life, as I replied, "I don't know why, but I will start today."  Being the competitive person that I am I suggested we keep a family book log over the summer and journal what we read and how many books we could read as a family.  We now shoot for 100 books over the course of each summer!  When we reach milestones of 25, 50 and 75 we go out for ice cream or dinner.  When we reach our goal of 100 books we celebrate with a night out, and of course - a New book for all!

Family Reading traditions:


My kid's advice was to read for pleasure, picking books that peaked my interest.  I quickly became addicted to reading.  Reading has become a core value in our family and we have started the following family traditions:

• Join online library: we all joined shelfari.com (I recommend) where we can log our books and learn a ton about books, authors and book previews

• Summer Reading Competition: (mentioned above) using an excel 4 column spreadsheet saved on the family desktop: column 1: person who finished book, column 2: date finished, column 3: book title and column 4: comments or summary of book. 

• Book store trips:  we all love the smell of a new book! Usually the Friday of a school vacation we head to a Borders book store and buy 1 or 2 books to read over vacation.  I have no problem treating here - what better gift could I buy my kids?  When we go away for vacation we always scout out bookstores first!

• Library trips: when money is tight (and that is more often than not) we head to our local library and shop for as many books as we can.  Even if we don't read them all-the hunt for a good book is fun.  My kids taught me this, saying "dad they are free, take more than one!"  When we go on vacation we also make it a point to visit one new library!

• Family series week:  This is a new one that we started this past April vacation.  I had visited an English class at my school and the kids were raving about the book "The Hunger Games," highly recommending it for my kids (now 14 & 12).  So on our Friday of vacation trip to Borders I bought 2 copies of Hunger Games for the family.  My daughter read the book in 1 day, finishing the entire 3 book series in 4 days, while my son dabbled in all 3 finishing by weeks end.  I only finished the first book and it took me all week!  My own kids highly recommend this series!

Final thoughts:

I personally believe reading is the single most important thing we need to teach our children.  Sometime teaching the "Love of Reading" can be modeled by children themselves, as was the case in my home.  My passion for reading has blossomed and has made me a better person - thank you kids!