This is something that is always on my mind. How do you get kids to read because they want to. I can always remember that it was so hard for me to sit down and read. Even when I was young and old this has been so hard.
There were times that I found myself really enjoying a book but that was so few and far between. It was something that really took effort to sit and do.
Even today this is a great challenge for me. I have been listening to an audio lately by Terry Brady titled “Developing Kids Who Love to Read” which has brought some great ideas to my family which has changed everything.
One thing that we are trying to do is help all our 5 children look for ways to enjoy reading. One of those is to read books that help them to develop people skills. I have found that when I read I understand so much more. So there are some tools that we have found that have really made a big difference.
The first is a series of books called the “Tuttle Twins” which we came across one day that teaches such great principles. One that I really like is the Creature of Jeckle Island. This teaches the children about how money works and how we can navigate the Financial Matrix in a way that will keep us from getting into trouble. These books are realy fun for the children and it explains the principles simply but concisely for everyone to understand. Get your Tuttle Twins book today!
The other thing we have done is invited our childeren to read by being paid to read. Certain books like the Tuttle Twins are ones that we pay them more for, but even the other recreational books equal some reward.
This Easter weekend our family was invited to visit my aunts house for some Easter events. The time it would take us to travel there was about an hour. So we asked our children to take a few books so they could read along the way. After getting everyone in the car, I counted everyone to make sure we weren’t leaving anyone. And sure enough on child was missing. I went looking for him and found him with a stack of books. One of them was the Tuttle Twins book and the other was The Magic Tree House book. I asked him to hurry to the car and he then responded, “I don’t have enough books.” I was so surprised by that response. So we found one or two more books then he quickly went to the car. And when we got back he had read most of them. I was really impressed!
It makes it even eaiser when family help us make this happen too. We are so greatful for our parents for helping incurage great reading habits. My mom has taken time out of her week to take a day to go to the library and read with the boys. Right now the older two are just going but they look forward for this every week! They are now jumping comprehension levels at school and reading levels in all they do! We Love Seeing Them Succeed!
