Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share How to Read a Book Relationally with Your Child
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
How to Read a Book Relationally with Your Child
[Week 33 of 52 Weeks to a Better Relationship With Your Child]
Not all reading is equal
Reading together was a central part of life when my children were growing up. This was enhanced by us teaching them at home. We were able to easily make reading a priority. As such, I have examined how to read with them, how to engage them in reading, and what to read to them quite a bit. Based on this experience, I would like to offer you some ideas on how to read relationally with your child.
I will talk a lot about reading fiction, but most of the ideas can readily be applied to non-fiction as well. I will start with this:
Not all reading is equal.
To be more specific, not all reading material is equally good, plus not all conclusions are equally valid. Just reading does not ensure good information or experience or wisdom.
How to choose a good book
A good reading experience with your children begins with a good book. A book might be classified as “good” for various reasons. It might be fun or funny. It might be well written. It might inspire. A book is not necessarily good because you were required to read it in institutional school or government educators have deemed it a classic.
When I began to evaluate some of these so-called classic books, such as those by Steinbeck and Fitzgerald, I saw that many of them were dark and hopeless. I began to be suspicious that government book lists were designed to keep students in a state of despair and easily manipulated to accept government programs. So, I decided to only ask my children to read one such book just before they graduated, to prepare them for the sorts of things college classes would require. .
Until then, the search was on for other books. We found books that were both more fun and less accepting of government propaganda. There were still plenty of things to learn as we read, but it wasn’t boring or like pulling teeth type of learning.
It is generally recommended to read a book out loud that is just above a child’s current self-reading level. This introduces them to new vocabulary and stimulates interest in different books. However, since our children covered a 13 year age span, we varied the exact level of the book, including hilarity such as the Freddy the Pig series (with voices as well as I could) and adventure with The Black Arrow, by Robert Louis Stevenson (which expanded my vocabulary and reading skills!)
Variations on the art of reading together
There were several variations of reading together that happened in our family.
View all episodes
By Laura Blodgett[Week 33 of 52 Weeks to a Better Relationship With Your Child]
Not all reading is equal
Reading together was a central part of life when my children were growing up. This was enhanced by us teaching them at home. We were able to easily make reading a priority. As such, I have examined how to read with them, how to engage them in reading, and what to read to them quite a bit. Based on this experience, I would like to offer you some ideas on how to read relationally with your child.
I will talk a lot about reading fiction, but most of the ideas can readily be applied to non-fiction as well. I will start with this:
Not all reading is equal.
To be more specific, not all reading material is equally good, plus not all conclusions are equally valid. Just reading does not ensure good information or experience or wisdom.
How to choose a good book
A good reading experience with your children begins with a good book. A book might be classified as “good” for various reasons. It might be fun or funny. It might be well written. It might inspire. A book is not necessarily good because you were required to read it in institutional school or government educators have deemed it a classic.
When I began to evaluate some of these so-called classic books, such as those by Steinbeck and Fitzgerald, I saw that many of them were dark and hopeless. I began to be suspicious that government book lists were designed to keep students in a state of despair and easily manipulated to accept government programs. So, I decided to only ask my children to read one such book just before they graduated, to prepare them for the sorts of things college classes would require. .
Until then, the search was on for other books. We found books that were both more fun and less accepting of government propaganda. There were still plenty of things to learn as we read, but it wasn’t boring or like pulling teeth type of learning.
It is generally recommended to read a book out loud that is just above a child’s current self-reading level. This introduces them to new vocabulary and stimulates interest in different books. However, since our children covered a 13 year age span, we varied the exact level of the book, including hilarity such as the Freddy the Pig series (with voices as well as I could) and adventure with The Black Arrow, by Robert Louis Stevenson (which expanded my vocabulary and reading skills!)
Variations on the art of reading together
There were several variations of reading together that happened in our family.