Kristen McLane

Posted by Kristen McLane on March 21st, 2008 in Books and Resources for Children, Growing Readers, Kids

When I think of being read to at an early age, from Dr. Seuss to Little House on the Prairie, I think of my dad. So when I decided to devote an entire week of my blog to reading, he was the first person that I contacted and asked to be a guest blogger. Despite the wise, mature person that he is there exists in my dad the spirit of Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up. If you were to walk into my dad’s office at work you would find a bookshelf lined with copies of his favorite children’s books. The printed words are merely a formality. My dad can recite most of the pages from memory. Thank you Dad for passing on your love of reading!

Guest Blogger: David A. Tucker

Remember the public service commercials to promote reading? Reading is fun-damental! Common wisdom used to say that kids learned to value reading when their parents read to them. A newer bit of this same common wisdom changes that to say kids learn to value reading when they see their parents reading. I’m not an expert, just a parent and grandparent, but I’ll go one better in this series of statements. Children learn to both value and enjoy reading when their parents read, display enjoyment and share that joy with the children.

A second principle is to make reading convenient. Surround yourself and your family with enjoyable reading materials within relatively easy reach. Make it natural to pick up a magazine or book anywhere in the home or car. And vary the reading material. Make sure the scattered reading material includes poetry, stories, novels, history, and the like. Anything else of interest.

What else can I say? Thanks for reading my words. Now go out and transfer your attention to one of Dr. Seuss’ classics – or anything else which will improve your life by providing information, inspiration or just plain fun!