Are You Reading to Your Children?

It seems that everyone will agree with you that reading to your children is important.  But how many are actually incorporating it into their homeschool schedule?

For me, reading to Haley when she was an infant was easy.  She was the first baby and I had all the time in the world to devote to developing her young mind.  When Haven was born I struggled with juggling a newborn and a toddler and making time for the things that were most important.  I read less to Haven and subsequently less to Haley.

When Paisley arrived I had “mastered” having multiple children and managed to squeeze in a reading time most days.  This most likely resulted less because of my prioritizing and more because Haley was ready to start reading.  Her desire for me to constantly read overpowered my drive to clean and/or sleep whenever I could.

Up until this summer, however, all reading times were spontaneous, unpredictable and were the first thing to go if there was something else to do.  In June, we reorganized our schedule to include 2- 45 minute blocks of reading by me and one 45 minute block for Michael.

For those of you saying, “my children would never sit still for 45 minutes of reading!”, I said this too   At first they wouldn’t (Haven and Paisley) but now they know the routine and for the most part “listen”.  Haley eagerly takes in every word and keeps me on track because I often get busy and skip the reading time.

Narration is a huge skill that a child should begin to master at an early age.  Haven is 5 and can sometimes narrate the story, Proverb, or poem I just read but mostly his attention is not there.  Paisley is 2 and does pretty much whatever Haven does…and her answer to every question is either “God” or “Jesus”…. yes, Paisley, they are the answer lol.

There have been numerous studies done on the correlation between reading to your children and the various characteristics that lend themselves to success in life.  Reading is one of the top 5 gifts you have the opportunity to share with your children.  Many moms will implore you to start early to plant the seed of love of reading in your children.  It is much harder to get a 12 year old to read if they’ve never seen you read or known that reading was important.

By reading to them early and often you cultivate that love and the normalcy of it.  Although Haven cannot read words we often go in search of him only to find him lying in a corner “reading” a book.  We have to force Haley to go to bed at night or else she’d read until she couldn’t hold her eyes open.  Paisley enjoys a good story as well.

Although any reading is good, you can always strive to read the best.

Classics like Treasure Island, The Hobbit, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Secret Garden… are all excellent choices for ALL ages.  Our children sat captivated during each one and eagerly anticipated how Bilbo would triumph over Smaug.  One thing we don’t do is choose books with tons of colorful pictures or adaptations.  We want the children to love words.  The occasional picture should be simply a bonus.

If you’d like some guidance on which books are highly recommend I suggest Hand That Rocks the Cradle: 400 Classic Books for Children.  When we first received this book we went through it book by book.  Michael and I were quite disappointed that out of 400 classic books we had read less than 5.  Pathetic.

The good news is once you get started it doesn’t take long to start checking off books.  I can’t wait to look back in 15 years and see how many we’ve read and re-read.  But, reading classics is nothing compared to the enormous value of reading the Bible to your children.

I have been blessed beyond any expectations through our nightly family worship.  Not only have I learned more in 3 months than I learned in 9 years of being a Christian, but the kids have blown me away with their understanding and retention of Scripture.

I encourage you to begin reading today.  Don’t wait until you think your kids are ready (they won’t be) or until you have all the housework done (it never will be).  Like every good thing it will stink in the beginning and be riddled with trials but in the end it will be beautiful.