How To Foster Reading At Home

(This post is adapted from a letter written by Jessica Lifshitz. I will be handing it out in class. Follow Jessica's blog to read more about her amazing classroom and teaching.)

Dear Families,

In my classroom, students will NOT be asked to fill out a reading log in order to keep track of their at-home reading. Still, students ARE expected to read outside of school. It is my hope that throughout the course of this school year, all of my students will begin to find ways to make reading a daily part of their lives. I do not believe that filling out a reading log each night or staring at a clock for twenty minutes is the best way for students to become or remain lifelong readers.

How can you help to ensure that your child is reading outside of school? Here are a few ideas:

Create a sacred time during the day or at night where everyone in the house is reading.

*When everyone in the house is reading, students will be more likely to WANT to read. Creating the conditions for reading allows everyone to find more success in their own reading. I know that we are all incredibly busy, but imagine how powerful even 20 minutes of everyone in the house reading could be!

Read WITH your child.

*One of the greatest things about reading is being able to discuss what you are reading with others. By reading the same books/articles/blogs that your child is reading, you can provide your child with opportunities to have the kinds of discussions that will motivate your child to keep on reading. Your family can also turn on subtitles or captions on the tv; numerous international studies have shown a dramatic increase in literacy skills just from this simple act.

Make sure your child sees YOU reading.

*Even when your child is NOT reading, if he or she sees you reading, they will know that reading is something that you take joy in and that you make sure to make time for. This creates the kind of culture of reading that motivates students to find ways to become readers themselves (even outside of school).

Take your child to the library.

*Books are expensive! And kids can go through books quickly. Taking trips to the local library can provide your family with access to incredible reading material and also access to librarians and other resources that can help guide your child towards even more books. We also have helpful and inspiring staff at our school library.

Ask your child about what she/he is reading inside and outside of class.

*The more kids talk about what they are reading, the more they will want to keep reading! Knowing that there are people at home who are interested in what they are reading and what they have to say about that reading, can sometimes be the push that children need to keep on reading. Even if a child is not enjoying a particular book, you can learn a lot about a person as a reader, and they can learn a lot about themselves, by discussing what it is they do not like.

Talk to your child about what you are reading.

*Tell your child about the book/magazine/blog you are reading, but also make sure to tell your child about how you selected what you are reading. Talk about the publications you love and the ones you do not like. Letting your child see that you struggle at times and are still a reader will help your child to see that even if he or she struggles, he or she is still a reader.  

Do not judge what your child is reading as not being “good enough.”

*Sometimes, it is tempting to tell our children that what they are reading is not “real” reading. I believe that all reading has value. In school, we are exposing children to many different types of texts and teaching them the skills they need to navigate through those texts. At home, they need to be able to read what they love (books, magazines, blogs, cereal boxes, recipes, the comics, instructions, manuals… in any language); when they find reading material they love, they will be choosing to read more often.

Help your child to use online resources to locate new reading material that is similar to what she/he has loved in the past.

*Finding good reading material can be the hardest part of being a reader. We are lucky to live in a world that has lots of incredible resources to help people find good matches for them. Most of the books and magazines that I read, come from the online suggestions of others or from lists of good books at goodreads.com.

Throughout the year, we will be working to build a culture of reading and a community of readers inside of our classroom walls. Extending this culture and community outside of the classroom walls can have huge benefits.  

Thanks for your support in helping your child become a lifelong reader.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Davis