Good advice
Eric’s Mom who is a retired reading recovery teacher gave us some of the best advise for encouraging children to love reading. She said to give them a reading light on their bed and let them stay up as late as they want as long as they are quiet and reading. I immediately thought of all the reasons that would not work for us, but she did this with her 4 boys and she swore by it, so we tried it. We have done this with Haley for 3 years and have recently started it with Ruby. I cannot tell you what a brilliant idea this is. Haley loves to read and will usually stay up an hour or two past her bedtime (8:00) to quietly read. She is in 3rd grade but her teacher told me she is reading at a 5th grade level. Ruby who is just a beginning reader will sit quietly in her bed and sound out words to herself. There is something to be said about a child quietly concentrating on reading without any distractions... yet they feel like they are getting away with something because it is after their bedtime.
9 comments:
Taylor has a book light and so does Jared. I am amazed she can too stay up that long. If you put a book in my hands it has the opposite effect--it puts me to sleep.
This makes me want to get my kids a headboard for their beds.
I WILL adopt this reading strategy!! What age did you start this? Brilliant. And my kids go to bed at 6...so that only puts them sleeping by 8!! Totally doable.
This is great advice. I'm such a stickler about bedtime, to a fault. But this, this idea is just too good to pass up. One question- do your girls share a room and does it keep one of them from going to sleep? Thanks for sharing, I love it!
Jordan- We started this with Haley when she was 5. So she had started kindergarden and was learning to read. We let Ruby do it a little earlier (before she could read) because she would quietly look at books for about 15-20 min then fall asleep.
Jenny- Haley has her own room. Ruby and Lucy share a room. Ruby has a light on her top bunk and and will read by it. Lucy asks for books in her bed and will sometimes look at them but usually sings to herself and then falls asleep. It is harder when they share a room. The rule is if there is talking or playing, the light goes out. I have to turn Ruby's light off about once a week.
We have book lights, too! Lucas hasn't caught the solo reading bug yet (he can, he's just not excited about it), but we frequently have to tell Max to turn out his light at 10:30! I can't imagine a better way for them to spend their time.
I read late in to the night all the time while growing up. I think it is a great way to help your kids learn to love reading!
LOVE this idea!
I remember the night (late) the light bulb in my reading lamp exploded - I was NOT encouraged to stay up late reading, but did it anyway. I pretended to be asleep when they came to check on the noise, and brushed glass off my pillow to get to sleep.
Giving kids a reading light is so empowering. My kids use headlights, but the result is the same. They are content to read in bed until they get too sleepy to stay awake. I always tell them they can read as long as they want, so they go to bed happy and willingly and I'm free for the night! (Oh yeah, and they love books!)
Chanel--brilliant. Such a simple idea--why haven't I thought of it. I'm doing it--thanks for the tip!
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