“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” —Emilie Buchwald
This quote was on the Facebook page for our library a little while ago. I first took a second look because the name is spelled the same as my daughter’s, which is rare. I then reread the quote and realized how true it is, in so many ways. I see my children, readers and non-readers (yet) and see this quote brought to life.
We read to our children, maybe not every day, but we do read to them. Usually it turns into a marathon session that doesn’t get repeated every day.
We read WITH our children. This tires them out, this tires us out, but we do it anyway and our children catch on that this is important. We then get into the stage where we watch them read… usually on their own, on the couch, on their beds, outside, in the car, hanging upside down in a tree, you see my point. We also get the privilege of watching them read to their younger siblings and starting the cycle all over again, or at least helping along what we, as parents, have started, and someday hope to watch them do with their own children.
Children imitate those they love.
What is happening here? The one thing I didn’t mention here was that our children are watching us. They see my husband and me read, even when we’re not reading to them. They see that this is something we enjoy.
They want to be like us.
They pull a book off the shelf and turn pages. They look at the pictures. They look at the writing. I remember my oldest dragging a big Teacher’s Manual for an algebra book off the shelf every day because it had a car on the front. He was 2 years old. The book was as big as he was. However, he saw his college student parents using big books every day and knew that this was how you used this book thing so he sat on the floor ‘reading’ math and Economics textbooks alongside his mom and dad.
Yes, he had his own set of board books and Dr. Suess books we’d been collecting since before he was born. However, even though we also read those, he didn’t see us reading those all the time so he tried all the books he could reach. He recognized the car on the front of the algebra book, so that quickly became a favorite.
Now, he’s still reading what he sees his parents read. We have Eragon, Harry Potter, David Eddings, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkein, and even Twilight that he has read. This also includes scriptures and religious books, but we’re talking about reading for fun. We are getting to the point that yes, he reads what we read, but he also is finding new series he enjoys and shares them with us. This includes anything by Rick Riordan as well as the Rangers Apprentice series. It has come to be something we can really talk about.
Children learn by doing.
Now something we did lots of was give our children opportunities to read. We go to the library and find books they like. We give them books as presents. We let them use our books. We show them what’s cool about a book. They start to do this themselves. Starting with board books they find the stuff they love. They realize there is great stuff IN the books.
Just recently, our youngest found that one book meant Mom and Dad would make animal sounds for her. She now brings it to us constantly and makes the sounds on the right pages. This step is repeated over and over again… but we learn by doing. We have bookshelves to the ceiling and help the kids find books they like and how to put them back and get them out. They find books they haven’t seen before. They explore. They have their own books. They have books we share with them. They have books for different purposes. They “do” the reading over and over again. We read to them, we read with them, we ask them to be read to. It becomes a habit, until it becomes something they like to do on their own.
Children do what they enjoy.
Well, they don’t realize they enjoy it until much later, but they don’t have a chance to realize they enjoy it unless they have a chance to do it in the first place. Reading opens their minds to new things, new ideas, and exploration of the world around them. Reading is entertainment and enlightenment as well as enjoyment. When they learn this, the world is wide open and we can watch them soar. I love that my children are learning to love to read and that I still get the chance to watch my younger children and start this whole process over again!
Tabitha (wife to Tom, homeschooling mom to 8 kids ages 14 to 1, learning something new all the time
About tabitha
When he was about 2 years old, my oldest son used to carry a pocket size spanish/english dictionary everywhere he went. He thought he was so grown up looking at it.
Teaching your children to love reading is an awesome gift. I hope that my own children continue to love reading as much as much husband and I do.
I’ve always read to my kids! Started with board books when they were six months old. Read out loud to them until fairly recently (they’re 13 and 16). And they love to read now. One of the tricks we used was putting them to bed at 8, but saying they could stay up until 8:30 if they were reading. They always did! I wrote about book choices here.
Great post. My son is just getting more interested in reading now that we put a reading lamp in his room and he can read for a bit after bedtime (he’s 3)..so cute to hear him reading the pictures. my daughter love love loves looking at books (she’s 2) and even my 4 month old stops and looks when i read aloud
We’ve always read to our kids…my oldest daughter used to have a board book from the $ store – Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Turn Around…we would have to read it over and over and over again!! After awhile we would hide it under the couch so we could read something else to her!! lol!! But now she’s my best reader, always a nose in a book!!