My good friend Jennifer is hosting a great reading challenge called Read Together. You can get more details at her site, and I encourage you to check it out and jump in on the fun. The challenge starts today and runs through the month of April.
The premise is simple: Set some concrete goals involving reading with your children during April, and then get reading!
I’ve decided to set goals with each of my kids. They’re not too overwhelming, but they are most definitely more than we’re doing right now, and I’m sure that any progress we make will be enjoyable for all of us.
Reading Goals with L. (age 2)
Currently, I read to L. before his nap and before bed, with some occasional books thrown in here and there. My goal for this month is to take those “occasional books” and make that reading time more consistent. Specifically, my goal is to read to him an average of 10 minutes every day aside from our reading at nap- and bed-time. I’ll let him pick the books (and I won’t even try to steer him away from the annoying ones, like I’ve sometimes been known to do!) and I will happily set aside whatever I’m doing to cuddle with him on the couch or in a comfy chair to share that time.
Reading Goals with C. (age 10)
To be honest, I am horrible about reading aloud with C. during the school year. Homework, piano lessons, and plain old busyness just seem to get in the way, and our reading together dwindles to approximately nothing between the months of September and May.
So for this challenge, I presented C. with five books, and asked him to pick one that he’d like us to read together. All the books are winners, in my opinion, and I hope we eventually get through all of them. But for the Read Together challenge, we’ll be diving into:
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
I was excited that C. picked this book. It was one of my favorites when I was a kid (I can still picture my beat-up copy that I read over and over and over…) and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with him.
My goal is for us to read together at least four evenings per week. I don’t have a specific page goal, but I know we usually don’t like to stop in the middle of a chapter, so I’m sure we’ll make some good progress.
Visit Jennifer’s blog to see the goals other parents have set for reading with their kids this April.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
What a great challenge! I actually set some very loose goals to read more to my boys (Jack and L.) through your Spring challenge. And I’m so proud to say that I’ve been doing really well…reading to them every day and sometimes multiple times a day. I’m not doing so great on my own personal reading goals but I’m not sweating it because I’m really glad to be reading to my boys.
Your goals sound perfect. Happy reading!
I think that these are great goals.
I’ve often thought that if I said “yes” when Kyle asked me to read more throughout the day, it would be good, but now he doesn’t even ask, because it’s not expected, so I have to offer!
And I’m so glad you and C. are reading A Wrinkle in Time! Amanda read it a year or so ago, and I think she liked it, but it might have been a bit over her head. She re-read it this year and LOVED it. And I’ve been meaning to re-read it myself (from childhood), but still haven’t, so I need to join in there.
As a mother, a grandmother, and an avid reader, I am smiling as I read this post. What a wonderful gift your are giving to your children: the love of reading. Good job!
oo a very great challenge!! I am going to check it out more. Those are some good goals. I have a hard time reading to my son (almost 2) other than before nap or before bed because he moves around and doesnt want to sit still. I will have to make more of an effort to do that.
What an awesome challenge! I don’t have any children yet, but am going to be reading as soon as I become pregnant.
Have fun.
I’ve never read A Wrinkle in Time. I’m going to have to add it to my list!
These are great goals – sometimes the greatest challenge is carving out that bit of time when reading together can happen. Good luck! Happy reading!
Those are excellent goals and very reasonable! I look forward to hearing how it all went
You know i wholeheartedly approve of his choice!! Will be interested to know his take on it. Kudos to you for making time to do this.
I teach fifth grade, and because our school was in need, our School Improvement Team designed and wrote grants to fund an afterschool reading program for at risk readers. The results, we’ve been doing it since October, have been phenomenal. Now we’re looking for ways to fund it for next year.
Most of the things we do in this program could be done by parents. Parents are wonderfully viligent about having their kids stay after for the program, but part of my heart wishes (and I know this is hard when you have more than one kid) the parents would just read more with their kids.
So I think what you’re doing is wonderful!
My son is 22, and my favorite memories include him in the crook of my arm with a book in our hands. He has become a lifelong reader, and I believe that can be counted, humbly, as my one parenting success.
Enjoy this time with C.! You are going to go beyond reading to making memories, and someday he’ll do the same with his kids.
What great goals! My son is just turned seven, and I know I am often guilty of only reading to him at bedtime, with an occasional session another time. I’m excited about this challenge.
BTW, I’m still working on my Spring Reading Thing list but am definitely planning to join in.
Oh, I love AWrinkle in Time. I may read it again with you. I hope C. likes it, too. My baby is 28 and ll my kids are three hours away, so this challenge just doesn’t work for me–LOL.
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