Kids Who Love to Read

I found Connor in Caileigh's room - which cracked me up.

Book Basket outside the kids rooms.

"What, Mom? I'm busy reading?"



Isn't he the cutest? Collin playing a game based on a book he had read.

Getting back to her exciting book.

I read this article and found it really disconcerting (click on the title of the blog for a link). The thought that we need to allow and indeed, encourage our kids to read books that are purposefully rude, gross and/or inappropriate to get them to read is appalling. There are so many great books and stories to read that it seems criminal to allow the horrible ones. We have three children who love to read and we don't stoop to this level of degradation. We should encourage our children to read that which is encouraging, worthwhile and well written. I firmly believe the adage that 'you are what you read", for what you read goes into your head and then moves to your heart. We want our children's heart to be filled with good not evil. Following you will find a list of things that we have done to encourage our kids to be readers.

1. Read, read, read! Read to your children from the time they are small until they are out of your home. My dad continued to read to us until we grown and even then. Read great books like all the Little House books, the Chronicles of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables or Charlie in the Chocolate Factory. I remember getting in trouble for trying to read ahead, Dad always seemed to stop at the really good parts.

2. Limit screen time - computer, t.v. and video game. They will find something to do and hopefully books will be a part of that!

3. Have books available for them to read. I have bookshelves in almost every room of our home. If they want to read, I have books available. We also borrow around 50 books every two weeks and have "book baskets" filled with library books on every level of our home.

4. Make a mandatory quiet time each day and before bed in which they read or listen to books.

5. Make books a reward. My kids get books as presents, rewards for a job well done and sometimes we just go buy some books for fun.

Remember to read every book your child read before they read them especially as they get into chapter books. Make sure you know what they reading. I pre-read all of my kids books and then if there is anything questionable , I either take it away or use it as discernment training. I will have the kids read a chapter of the book and then we discuss the elements of the books, what the Bible says about those things and how we could choose better in our lives and perhaps why the author choose to use that element in the story.

There are a number of really great books of books lists that are available. I like "Honey for a Child's Heart" by Gladys Hunt. I have many books about great books to read. I also love "The Well-Educated Mind" by Susan Wise Bauer for teens and adults.

After I read the above article, I went on a search for my children and these pictures are what I found. I was pretty happy.

Categories: parenting