Reading has been a big thing for us this summer. As a kid I was a big reader, as in
vo-ra-cious /vəˈrāSHəs/ - Wanting or devouring great
quantities of food (er, ah, books)
And that is my great ambition for my children - that they devour books the way I did. I want to make them all into voracious readers. So you'll understand why my heart skipped a beat when I walked in on my kids doing this:
And I didn't even stage the photograph!
Actually, this summer Dicie has become a voracious reader. {Mom Does a Happy Dance!} She reads all day if I let her. I have actually caught myself yelling at her, "Dicie, put the book down, it's time for dinner!" The other day she bought a new book at the bookstore, started it in the car on the way home, and finished it just a couple of hours later. She has read a lot of different books, including one that was over 600 pages! Two of her favorite books this summer have been "Fablehaven," and "Chasing Vermeer."
Dallin, on the other hand, hasn't become voracious. But he is a great reader! He can read quickly, has a fairly large vocabulary, and seems to have good comprehension. He is just. not. interested. I can't remember how I convinced him to read "Indian in the Cupboard," but he read it and really seemed to enjoy it, so of course I checked out the other 4 books in the series from the library. I ended up returning them all unread. But, I'm not giving up! Dallin really enjoys non-fiction books. He'll sit and browse through various non-fictions, anything from science to magic tricks. He even likes to flip through the instruction manuals for our Wii games! A couple non-fiction favorites of his are "The Dangerous Book for Boys," and "The Klutz Book of Inventions." But I'm still trying to encourage him to read fiction. Currently I've resorted to bribery and offered him $1 for every (Mom-approved) book he reads. I know, I'm shameless.
This summer we have been doing "quiet time," or read-aloud time, in the afternoons during the younger kids' naps. At the beginning of summer I took the kids to the craft store and let them all pick out an activity they could do during quiet time. Dicie chose Perler beads, Dallin chose a latch-hook rug, and Mia chose a weaving loom making potholders. After about a week, they dropped their other activities and all started doing Perler beads. You can imagine how many little melty-bead creations we have around the house with 3 kids using them every day for 2 months! But it's fun for them and we all look forward to reading every day. At the beginning of the summer we began "The Chronicles of Narnia" series. I am ashamed to say that I had never read them. They are truly the most beautiful children's books I have ever read! I adore them and the kids have all loved them as well.
After finishing "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" we watched the movie together. It was so fun to see the movie and appreciate how so many details from the book come to life in the film. Jameson, who hasn't been reading the books with us, really got into the movie. Towards the end he left the room for a few minutes and came back dressed like this:
Jameson dressed in our Edmund costume with a sword and shield he made himself!
It was so cute that he'd spontaneously gone and dressed up on his own. And I was so tickled to see him enjoying the Narnia story! We're currently reading "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and enjoying that. I officially have a new fondness for all things Narnian. We plan to make a batch of Turkish Delight, and I plan to incorporate a few Narnia-inspired items into our play room (if/when I ever re-decorate that is)!
Overall, I'm pleased that reading has become more important to our family and that the kids seem to be enjoying books more and more!
3 comments:
For Narnia! Those are some of my favorite books ever. There are lots of times in Sunday School or Relief Society that I want to give an answer, but realize that quoting Aslan versus scripture might not be the best. :)
I am totally with you on wanting to have my children become voracious readers. Right now I am just excited that Ryker and Michelle are finally excited for bedtime stories, might have something to with Daddy doing the reading though.
I'm glad people are reading like you want for the most part!
Sheesh, I can't seem to remember to come check your blog. Duh. I bet nobody remembers to check mine. I've really got to do an email thing for the 10 people it allows or whatever.
Yaay for good readers! I set a goal to read books aloud with my kids this summer. It didn't pan out. However, Aspen is definitely what you would call a "voracious reader." She lOVES to read, and I am constantly having to tell her to put her book down to eat dinner, go to bed, whatever. She has read all of the Magic Treehouse books about 5 times now. She read all the Junie B. Jones books too, until she started acting too much like the character and we had to ban the books ;) Do you know a good series that a 1st Grader would like (who reads at the level of a 3rd grader or higher)? We are thinking of The Boxcar Children or Nancy Drew, but both of of those are still a little old for her.
T loves to read too, actually. He will sit and look at books for long lengths of time. I hope he will be a great reader one day, too!
Madi- she loves to eat the books. It's quite problematic, actually. We had to designate several little board books for her, and move all the other books out of her reach. She loves to bend and fold them and chew them up. So I guess in a way, all my children love books!
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