A Family That Reads Together

Some of the other bloggers on the Schoolhouse Crew have been talking about Summer Reading Program lately and planning what they'll share for this week's Blog Cruise. At first, I didn't think I had much to offer to their discussion.

Two of our local libraries have Summer Reading Programs, but I haven't taken the kids to sign up for either one yet. I picked up Summer Reading sheets when I was at Barnes and Noble a week or so ago, but I don't think I've shown them to any of the kids.

Official reading programs don't really seem to motivate my children to read more than they already would. For a  somewhat disorganized mom like me, Summer Reading Programs have sometimes been just one more piece of paperwork to try to keep up with.

What I've decided to do this summer is to simply press on with the reading plan that I came up with a few months ago -- family reading time. Sometimes it isn't a matter of not wanting to read, it's a matter of finding time to read. I've found it works best if I set aside about an hour in the afternoons where we're all reading.

I want my kids to see me reading, not just hear me telling them how important it is to read.

Here's how reading time looked at our house this afternoon.

Brennan took a picture of me reading a book on my nook while crocheting a baby gift.

Addison picked her  traditional cozy spot in the corner of the living room. Brennan was originally on the other couch, but he moved over to this one when Lauren decided she needed to share it.

Lauren started on the floor looking at American Girl catalogs and then moved up onto the couch with a chapter book for a little while. Towards the end, she just sprawled out on the floor watching the timer on my iPod. Some days she reads more than other days.

Many families set reading goals for the summer. I've set a goal to not let Reading Time fall by the wayside when we move into our relaxed summer schedule. At the end of the summer, I won't necessarily have a list of how many books each child read. I do hope that I have precious memories of all of us snuggled up with something good to read.



The Schoolhouse Review Crew posts a Blog Cruise topic every two weeks. We are be talking about Summer Reading Programs this week, and you can find a list of participating blogs here starting Tuesday morning. In the meantime, the button above will take you to the main Blog Cruise page on the Review Crew website.