Just Keep Reading

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Parents continue to be anxious about how they can support their children’s learning at home during the pandemic. You’ve heard it before, but this simple advice is worth considering once again. Just keep reading! Life gets complicated and sometimes when we are parenting, we need to concentrate on what is most important and what comes easily. Be an advocate for reading within your home. There is a big connection between reading skills and school performance.

Becoming literate begins at home and it takes time and lots of hard work to raise a reader. Parents need to understand that kids don’t just acquire this essential skill at school, overnight magically, or by the end of the third grade. We know that children learn more when they can actively and consistently participate in the learning process. Practice, practice, practice is what will help your son or daughter learn how to read better. Daily reading at home as well as at school can establish positive routines that will have a life-long pay off for your child.

I have fond memories of a special evening early in each school year when my teaching colleagues and I would host a READ IN Pajama Party in our school library. We invited our grade 1 & 2 students and their parents. The kids thought it was cool coming back to school at night dressed in PJ’s. Seeing their teachers and moms and dads all dressed in pajamas too was fun. We read stories aloud, talked about the importance of reading with children at home and then encouraged each family to pick a book and find a quiet corner to read.

Reading is a vital skill. Learning to read well is critical for future academic success. As a now retired elementary teacher I always knew that I was doing important work. My classroom walls had multiple posters encouraging my students to read. “Open up the pages of your imagination and READ! BOOKs are food for your BRAIN. Some of my best friends are BOOKS!” Yes, it was propaganda and important messaging that I wanted my students and their parents to see. Teachers know that parents play an important role in their children’s education and especially with reading.

I believe that if you learn to read then you will forever read to learn more. We can’t escape it reading is everywhere. We read for information, to increase and enhance our vocabulary and expand our background knowledge. Reading facilitates communication and fosters thinking skills. It is required to function in society in countless ways from following directions, using a map, reading street signs and advertisements, following recipes for cooking or instructions for taking medications, using a computer, visiting websites and other social media sites and sources, to even just texting a friend on the phone. The list is endless and all of it requires competent reading skills. Looking ahead it is hard to think of a role, a job or a profession that your son or daughter may aspire to that doesn’t require literacy skills.

So when you feel tired or frustrated with this Covid schooling year just keep reading. Home reading programs are part of most elementary language arts programs aimed at encouraging children to read beyond the classroom. Developing a love of reading and an appreciation for books at home is a bonus because reading can also give you pleasure and be a source of relaxation. For some people and children too, books can be a calm, safe and comforting place to go.

Speaking from personal experience as a parent of three girls, now adult women and still avid readers. I really believe that reading can help build relationships and make memories, too. Reading together gives closeness with your child and is a relaxing positive way to spend time at home. At the same time you are providing more literacy experiences. Someday they may share favorite books with you and hopefully go on to share that love of reading with their own children. We all know that kids and parents alike can benefit from all the love and support they can give each other especially during these challenging Covid times.

Books are not toys but children should enjoy being around them. There is still a collection of old favorites filling a bookcase in the basement of my home just waiting for another reading someday. I think we had the entire set of 1990’s Berenstain Bear and Franklin books. The Magic School Bus books taught us so much about life and the world around us. Arthur and his faithful friends took us through the trials and tribulations of growing up. Every season and holiday had its favorite stories. The witty rhymes of Dr. Seuss and the beautiful illustrations of Jan Brett and may other gifted authors and artists were timeless.

Choosing the books and settling in on the couch for bedtime reading was a must in our home. I regret that at times this busy working mom was almost too tired to read aloud and I may not have embraced the specialness of each evening spent together but it was a routine that was maintained. One daughter to this day still reads at bedtime or other quiet times during her busy days. Not me sadly at this age! It would put me right to sleep but I still plan for regular reading time during my day. Even when my daily schedule was very full and hectic I always had a book with me that I could pull out because reading can take you away for a few moments when you just need to take a break.

We also visited the library regularly and spent lots of time browsing through bookstores. As the kids got older reading together at coffee shops was a special time that I enjoyed with my daughters. Harry Potter generation kids who are now in their twenties and thirties still love those books and the subsequent movies. They remember from childhood eagerly awaiting each new book in the series, standing in long lines at the bookstore to purchase them and then taking turns reading them over the summer. It was a big deal! Those are powerful memories. It’s still like comfort food for their brains.

Then there was the Twilight craze that hit the bookshelves and and silver screen. We all read them including mom! I chuckled recently when my youngest daughter texted me to ask if we should go together to purchase the new book that had just been added to the series written from a new perspective. At the age I am now I did have to tell her that perhaps I would pass this time on the Team Edward vs Team Jacob and Bella classic love story, but she could share her impressions with me anytime. All these years later sharing what books we are reading and what is new or popular at the bookstore is still fun.

When I was teaching storytimes were part of everyday at school. My afternoon class always started off with a read aloud time, often a chapter book whose plot twists and turns would unravel over several days as the kids settled in after lunch recess. Sometimes less is more and kids appreciate when it is easy for them to enjoy the learning. Reading aloud models fluent language for children in a simple and calming way.

Reading is so much more than just sounding out words. It is a complex thinking process. Parents and children practice their listening and communication skills while reading. It’s an uncomplicated way that parents can truly build on what their child knows to facilitate new learning. Just keep reading but remember to check for understanding, too.

Making connections and building meaning is so important for understanding to occur when listening or reading. Teachers ask their students to make predictions and compare or contrast all the time. Character analysis and problem-solving tasks are part of every school language arts program. The 4 R’s are commonly used to check for understanding. Recall, retell, reflect and relate. These processes get children to use increasingly more complex thinking skills.

Teaching reading is a learned skill, but parents can participate in the process. With my grade 1 & 2 students I developed a simple acronym “Let’s R.A.P.P” to promote good reading comprehension. READ it. ASK questions. PICTURE it in you mind. Then PUT it into your own words. Simply said think, talk or write about what you have been reading. There are ways that parents can support their child’s learning. Try adding to your own toolbox and bump up some of your storytimes with more discussions and other literacy-based tasks when reading aloud with your children or when your child is reading to you. But, keep it stress free and fun.

If you learn to read well, then you will forever be able to read to learn more. So, parents during these unprecedented Covid times hold your children close and just keep reading! That will help support all school learning. Let your sons and daughters see you reading, too. This is something that is important for all kids to grow up with. Remember that this is your home not school so be patient and accepting of their attempts at reading by giving them positive feedback and gentle prompting. Don’t expect perfect reading especially from young children. Instead put the emphasis on the understanding that is crucial and the LOVE of READING that may last a lifetime.

Thank you for joining me.

Karen Boschee

Retired Teacher and Parent of 3 adult children