However, for many people reading is a chore that you do because you “have to” while you’re in school. And this chore can be tossed out the window once you’ve graduated. For many, reading is something that you do for practical purposes and never for simple enjoyment. How sad. I personally don’t like “Summer Reading” programs because it sounds like a homework assignment. Yuck! Reading should never be a chore, but a grand adventure to undiscovered destinations.

Do you remember “RIF” back in the days of the Flintstones? It stands for “Reading Is Fundamental” and is something that should be engaged in everyday, not just for homework or something to keep the kids busy during the summer months. Reading is a fundamental skill that only gets better with practice. And anything that contains words can be practice — including comic books!

I believe a key to having good readers in the family is to be a good reader yourself. My kids have always seen us reading — even if it’s just a cereal box at breakfast! We are weekly library patrons and I can’t be trusted with a debit card in bookstores or we’ll end up on Debtors Prison. Every room in my home is full of books — books my parents had from the 1950s to contemporary works. Having books always available and in plain sight makes it easier for children to become addicted.

Reading to your children is another big contributor to having good readers. I like to read to the children on a regular basis. It’s became more challenging now that I have more children and more responsibilities with my business. I don’t want my children to miss the benefits of being read to so they drift off to sleep listening to audiobooks.

And  you don’t have to spend money on professionally done audios if that’s not in your budget. Most libraries rent audiobooks.  My library even offers books online that you can listen to as long as you are their patron. If you have very little ones you can even create your own audiobook for them. Select their favorite books and record them for later use. I found this to be an excellent way to comfort my eldest daughter when I was working outside of the home. Just pop in the tape (or nowadays upload the MP3 to your favorite audio device) and you’re all set.

I know a lot of people don’t like audiobooks because they think that it will stop children from picking up books and reading them for themselves. That has not been my experience. My reluctant reader (there’s always one!) has a very large vocabulary and I have to give some credit to the audiobooks. As the children listen to stories, read by their parents or a professional recording, they are being exposed to adult syntax, phrasing and other elements that help make a complete reader.

And as the three bags of library books show, their interest in physical books has not been hampered in the least. As a matter of fact sometimes listening to the audiobook has caused my kids to go and look for the physical book because they fell asleep and missed something that they wanted to hear!

Although my children listen to audiobooks while they are drifting off to sleep, I also use them in the car as we travel. Audiobooks really should not be considered”standalone” items. Children can only develop strong comprehension skills through discussion. So, the audios get stopped when language becomes more complex, there are underlying motives that need to be examined, the children have questions about what they’ve heard. And of course if we’re listening to a mystery everyone has to chime about who and what the solution to the problem might be and then seeing which one of us is right.

My reluctant reader is reading the Little Bear Library and she’s doing pretty well. The Madsen method is helping her with some of her issues (primarily “why isn’t the word spelled the way it sounds?”) and the rest is just practice.  So we’re supposed to read half of a story each day (sometimes evening). To make  it more interesting for her sometimes we read the words using silly voices or we sing the words of the story. Just the other day we conducted a wonderful “opera” singing the story of Little Bear meeting his new friend Emily.

Another way to encourage a love of books is to be involved. Reading should not be a ho-hum sit down affair. Why not assign parts of a story to different family members and have them act them out? You can do this in two ways. You can either have multiple copies of the book for the family (i.e., the Bible) to read from, or you all sit in a circle and pass the book around as the speakers change from one to another. Or while you’re reading to the kids have them pick out their favorite scene and draw it out. Sometimes my children illustrate their favorite scenes in clay or Play-Dough.

Each family dynamic is different, but reading is something that can be shared by all. And best of all, you’re building a strong reader with strong memories of happy times together with their family. What strategies do you use to get your children involved in reading?

photo credit: brewbooks

Technorati Tags: audiobooks, books, children, ebooks, love of books, reading, summer reading

• You Can’t Come In (Summer)
  
• Braving the Storm (Winter)
  
• Race with Midnight (Spring)
  
• Seventy Times Seven (Autumn)
  

Of the four, “Seventy Times Seven“  was my favorite with with “Braving the Storm” a close second because they were the most realistic scenarios for me. “Seventy Times Seven” illustrated the point that we all struggle with — learning to be empathetic and forgiving others in the manner that we wish to be forgiven.

My daughters were split on their favorite. My older daughter enjoyed “You Can’t Come In” while the younger daughter really loved “Race with Midnight” (she’s an animal lover so I think that was the deciding factor). I guess our choices also reflect where we are on our journey of life.

My oldest daughter actually was frightened by “Braving the Storm” because it dealt with real world problems such as losing a job, injuries, etc. At 10 she’s working very hard to remain an innocent child and I guess that story had too much realism for her. I on the other hand appreciated the realism in the last two books. The first two books were a bit to pat for my tastes.

One feature that I thought was such a great idea is the inclusion of the CDs with each story. This allows my younger daughter to follow along with the book and get familiar with new words or just enjoy the story whenever she wants. I love reading with my children, but sometimes time is an issue and the CD can be my surrogate reader.

The four book/CD series costs $40 or you can buy individual books/CDs for $10 a piece. I think this is a good addition  the library of  families who want to inspire their children to follow in Christ’s footsteps.

Khalid Family: 4 stars out of 5

Disclaimer: http://cmp.ly/1/yqs65n

Technorati Tags: bible, books, CBH Ministries, CDs, Children's Bible Hour, Christian themes, faith building

Expert: Jennifer Miller
Bio: Jennifer Miller has a degree in elementary education and has worked extensively within the home school community. She provides educational consulting, evaluations, and educational plans.
Filmmaker: Bryan Powers

Duration : 0:1:59

Technorati Tags: books, classes, course, curriculum, elementary, Geography, home, school, schooling

Wizz-e is a magical place where books come to life. They move, they shimmer, they speak and even give quizzes. The  magic has touched the classics such as “The Three Little Pigs.” The magic has affected new books, such as “Hoop-La the Hippo.” Some books count and some books rhyme. But whatever else they do the children always have a good time.

My daughter (6 years old)  is a beginning reader who lacks confidence in her decoding skills. She actually can read better than she thinks, but the second-guessing takes a lot of energy of her. So when I found out about this website I thought it would be a nice change from Starfall.com (another great reading site) since the reading material is for “bigger” girls and boys.  Once I got the site up, she was immediately drawn to the site’s layout and book offerings.

The first book we read together was “The Three Little Pigs.” Actually, she opted for the narrator to read that one and I’m glad that she did. The narration was first rate. And the beautifully drawn illustrations really captivated her. They are beautifully rendered as well as animated. But unlike other sites that really go overboard when it comes to animation and music, Wizz-e is very subtle and calming. No flashing lights to distract the children from what they need to concentrate on — the Words.  Even the music is soothing, creating a cozy and relaxing feeling.

Another great reason to visit Wizz-e is that although most of the books are for purchase, you can’t beat the prices. The books range anywhere from $1.99 to $8.99, are immediately accessible and available for use.  The bookstore offers books that encourage counting, health, classic stories like “Old Mother Hubbard”, alphabet books and bedtime stories. Regardless of the genre, the illustrations brought to life are really a feast for the eyes. And each book comes with the option of reading the story outright, an “assist” mode that allows the child to click on an unfamiliar word and have it read to them and straight reading. At the end of each story there is a little quiz just to make sure that the children remembered the main points of the story.

Aside from the library, which is expanding each month, there are also games, free downloads and jokes for the kids to tell us a million times. The game section is also a work in progress, so the interface doesn’t always work as well as it should. My daughter and I both got frustrated with the “Seek and Find — Find the Teddies”.  Once again the illustrations are beautiful, but when we tried to circle the bears the interface didn’t always acknowledge you and put a circle around the bears.  And since this is a time sensitive game it’s very annoying to know you lost even though you found all of the teddies. So, I would suggest that parents with small children give this a pass for now.

The “Hoop-La the Hippo” puzzle worked very well. My daughter’s only complaint was that there wasn’t a greater variety of puzzles. By that she meant that you weren’t able to choose a 9 piece puzzle versus a 21 piece puzzle. She suggested that I tell the owners that they need to fix that so that older kids could play too without getting bored.  So, if anyone from Wizz-e finds my review, please add more puzzle piece choices. It’ll make Alaya very happy.

I know that a lot of parents are wary of allowing their children to access the internet without close supervision, but Wizz-e has solved that problem for you. Once you purchase the book you can immediately download it to your hard drive for later use. Although you can’t transfer it from whichever computer you download it to, this is a good way to keep the kids safe. And it’s a great way to entertain the children for a few minutes while encouraging reading and reading comprehension. I think once you take a look you’ll definitely see it as a worthy addition to your teaching arsenal. You can visit their site and get more information by going to www.wizz-e.com.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: animation, books, bookstore, ebook, magic, Wizz-e