I am in the second chapter of an absolutely FABULOUS book that I already think every mom and dad should read!! It’s called “How To Teach Your Baby To Read: The Gentle Revolution” by Glenn Doman and Janet Doman (father and daughter team).
They talk about teaching very small children to read. But, this book is an outcome of research that started in an entirely different vein – helping children with brain injuries. A research team go together in the 1950′s to learn about brain-injured children to see if there was any help for them. Up to that point, many of these children were being declared “vegetables” by their “doctors” and being admitted to an institution for life. These researchers felt there could be more done about these children.
In the end, they discovered that they were able to make these children well again, when first there had been no hope. They were able to bring a child who could not move or talk at age three to a point where he could walk and read by age six! The startling thing was that this child could read within a very short time of beginning to work with him.
Some of the brain-injured children were racing to an intelligence level above normal, even into the genious range! It made them step back and wonder what could happen for a well child! What if they took these principles and applied them to a child with a non-injured brain? What could that child achieve?
The outcome with this and several other books about teaching your well-child information usually reserved for five to six year olds. I picked up this book on a whim – I wasn’t really looking for a way to teach my baby to read. I had seen an infomerical about this product that used DVDs and large printed cards to teach small babies to read. I was very intrigued but did not even consider shelling out the cash they were asking for it. Today, when I saw this title on the bookshelf at the library, I picked it up. I am so glad I did!
We’ve always been a reading family. There is never a day when we don’t read something. There is rarely an hour that goes by that one of my children isn’t thumbing through a book of some kind. My oldest son LOVES to read. On his days-off from schoolwork, he’ll sit on the couch and just devour whole books at a time. My oldest daughter just learned to read this year and I cannot believe how she just inhales every word in print around her – she just has to read everything.
I was absolutely floored when my daughter begged me to teach her to read at three years of age! I figured it would never work, but I did it to humor her. I didn’t want to extinguish that burning desire to learn only because I thought it would help her attitude toward learning in the future. She’s four now and I’m so impressed with how well she is reading and it makes me wish I had started earlier!
So, this summer, we’re going to be concentrating on reading alot! Not forced reading, though. I’ll just make sure I have tons of books available to them at all times and help them to enjoy each one. The librarians already think we’re crazy for checking out so many books at one time!
Here’s a few of my ideas to encourage reading in my kids:
- Mommy Reading Time – One On One. One of the things I don’t do often enough is read to my children one-on-one. I plan to set aside some time each day to read to them individually. I’ll probably pick one child for each day rather than try to find time to sit with each of them every day.
- Mommy Reading Time – Group. Along with reading to them individually, I really like reading all together. They each pick out a few books and we all curl up on the couch and on each other and read out loud. We do this during our bedtime routine and it has to be one of my favorite times of the day.
- Independent Reading Time. I like for them to have some time alone each day to explore books all on their own. This way, they go through the pictures at their own pace and explore for as long as they desire. I usually give them this block of time right before nap. They get to lay in their beds with a huge stack of books and read until their are tired. Most days they fall asleep on their own at some point, some days they don’t. Naptime is two hours either way.
- Big Brother Reading Time. Our oldest, as I said, loves to read and the younger ones really enjoy having him read to them. I plan to set up a time throughout the week for him to do this. It will also benefit him to read out loud more often. This may not be daily depending on what I can fit into our existing schedule, but at least twice a week.
- Reading Challenge. I am really excited about implementing this idea – if you’ve already done something like this in your home, I’d sure love to hear success stories and ideas of what worked for you. I’m going to pick a timeframe and a few prizes. Then, I’ll tell the kids, whoever can read the most books in the timeframe gets the top prize, with a second and third place winner. (What do you think? Too much sibiling competition?) Or it could be a group effort – if they read a certain number of books collectively within the timeframe, they get a big prize. Maybe a trip to the ice cream shop or some other rare but fairly inexpensive treat – not that it has to be food related.
What are you doing to encourage reading in your home this summer? I’d love to hear your ideas!
Join the others who have subscribed to my RSS Feed or email updates because you don’t want to miss out on the next article!
Related Posts
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
A couple summers ago we did a reading challenge. But it was more of a challenge against themselves. I made up a chart and put it on the kitchen wall. Each day the kids read at least 30 minutes, they put up a star on that day. If they read each and every day in the entire summer, they got a prize (that year it ended up being tennis rackets…their choice). Turns out both of my readers made their goal, and they had fun doing it, too!
Hi Joy!! Thanks for stopping by! I think challenging them against themselves is probably better than against each other. I hate to create too much internal competition between siblings. I didn’t think about having them choose their own prize – that probably would help them be a little more motivated to the goal! Thanks for the advice!
We’re a reading family too. I love reading aloud with my kiddos and my oldest loves to read. He too could devour books on the couch all day everyday, if allowed. My daughter is a little more reluctant. She can read well, but doesn’t relish it as much as her brother. So I’m taking your advice and setting aside time to read just to her, making every effort to find books that will capture her imagination. My youngest, a ripe old 3 month old will only benefit from all this reading time!
We also love summer reading programs at public libraries. Simple rewards for reading and fun events to attend for free! I’m also going to implement a reading list, to give direction when we visit the library, or peruse our home library shelves, but I’ll still allow them to choose. Thanks for great advice!
Hi there Corrie!! Thanks so much for visiting! I am so glad you enjoyed the article and found some advice worthy of making part of your life! What an honor that is for me! You might even start her on a series that is really easy for her to read and get through to the end in a short time. Then, you can point out her fabulous accomplishment and inspire her to keep on going!! Hope you guys have a great reading summer!