Re-Establishing Reading Routines
September and October call for setting goals and routines after a super speedy summer. Are you feeling anxious or overwhelmed trying to fit everything in? Chances are if you are stressed, your children are feeling it too. People thrive off clear and consistent rules, routines, and expectations. So now is the time to take a deep breath and learn how to take one thing off the “parental guilt plate.”
Establishing a reading routine will help make the school year run smoother for everyone. Take a look at the steps below to get started right away!
Decide together where the nightly reading routine will take place.
Establish the expectations of what the reading routine should look like and the duration. How many pages? Who is reading? What genre? Etc…
Don’t overdo it! Start with a few minutes at a time and build reading stamina as each night passes. You may find it helpful to graph or log the minutes.
Another consideration you might choose is to collect books on a topic your child is interested in, and get to work reading together. This strategy builds background knowledge and vocabulary.
Have your children read a variety of genres. Visit bookstores and libraries to see what’s popular.
If you have a reluctant reader who struggles after the reading guidelines have been set, you are NOT alone. As a single mother of three, I have a child who repeatedly voices how much he hates reading. He is quick to voice his opinions of dislike before giving a book a chance. I often compare it to Night of the Veggie Monster by George Clements. You don’t have to like every vegetable or book, but you have to give it a try. You might just find out you like it! This is exactly what happened to my son in October. So what did I do? I asked for help. I went to other third grade teachers to see what some of their students are enjoying. Another thing I did was select books that teach a life lesson, because if all else fails at least he’s hearing great themes on how to be a good human. I didn’t give up and I didn’t overpressure him. I modeled good reading each night and he listened to me read to his siblings. He would often add to the conversation without the pressure of me “forcing” him to read. Gradually we were able to move to “I read a page then he reads a page” until he felt more invested in the book. I modeled a book that’s in the series, so now he has many book choices to continue the reading routine. Some of the books we explored this month were also ones in the process of being made into a television series or movie. This seemed to hook him as well.
