Creating new reading habits.
Summer break is a great time to start new habits with your kids to inspire their love of reading. There is some risk involved though, you don’t want to make them feel like reading is homework or the plan is doomed. Charts, writing assignments, and reward systems can seem like a great idea at first but most likely won’t make your child suddenly love reading. In fact, too much pressure to perform can have the opposite effect on motivation. How can you avoid this? I’ve got some ideas for you! (If your kids already love to read, skip to the book suggestions for ideas.)
It starts with you.
Let’s start by thinking about how you approach reading with your kids. Is reading something your family does together? Do you sit and read a book in front of them? Many things we want our kids to do we try to tell them to do it because we think it is good for them, but that’s not enough, we need to get them hungry for reading. Try grabbing a book the next time you have to wait for dinner to finish cooking, or while you wait at the dentist’s office. Let them see you reading something regularly and talk about your book to include them which will make them feel that reading is something important and interesting.
As a parent, you have the ability to set the tone of a culture of reading and enjoying learning. If you aren’t a big reader now because you have lost touch with what you like to read, try exploring your own interests by going to a library, finding a literary podcast like The Literary Life, or looking on Goodreads for suggestions.
Use drive time in the car to make the most of your captive audience.
Listening to audiobooks IS reading! Although in our main homeschool curriculum plans we place importance on the students being exposed to the written word, when it comes to free reading, audiobooks are a big part of our home. Try listening in the car to a book or series that everyone can enjoy, especially the parents! I personally don’t want to be bored by mind-numbing books (kids are smarter than we often give them credit for anyhow!)
They might not seem to be listening but don’t say anything about it. Chances are they will end up saying, “Hey that book we were listening to, can we keep listening?” Or you might just hear, “Don’t listen without me! which happened recently after a road trip accompanied by the wit and intrigue of Sherlock Holmes.
Anchor reading time with existing routines.
Think of other times you have a captive audience. Could you pick up a fun book to read aloud during lunch? What about making a routine at bedtime to read as a family? Some of our best memories are of the first times my husband read the Narnia series to my eldest three. I found myself listening in while tidying or doing laundry. It was so fun to see how much they loved it and begged my husband to keep reading!
Be your child’s librarian.
Find out what they are really interested in currently and look for books they may enjoy. If you are struggling to find good books your child loves, try using the library to order a stack of books. It may take time but don’t give up on the first few tries. Ask your child what they did or did not like about a particular book. You may be surprised at what they prefer in a book.
Build a home library.
You can start small, but having a home library of any size says to your family, “We care about reading.” Having a bookshelf in the main living area is a constant subliminal message that reading is worthwhile and an important part of life. How can you fill your bookshelf? Start with library sales, thrift stores, and estate sales. You can get wonderful books for 50 cents sometimes and looking is like treasure hunting, you have to be open to coming home with nothing sometimes and other times with armfuls.
“A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.”
― C.S. Lewis
Be selective with the books you bring home.
Charlotte Mason talked about books that are dumbed down as being “twaddle” and not good for kids. I know there are a lot of differing opinions about this concept, but for us, choosing quality “living books” has been a wonderful choice for our family. A living book is a book that is written in a narrative style as opposed to purely informational, and it has enough substance that you could tell the story again after reading a while and it would be interesting. One way to identify this is to look for books that have more words than pictures, and when opening a random spot and reading, you feel like you don’t want to put it down right away because the story comes alive.
Avoid chapter books with too much clunky dialog where the characters talk for half the page, and make sure the pictures are respecting the child’s taste with quality illustrations and not exaggerated caricatures. Some kids love graphic novels and miniseries that are somewhat fluff but if it is a stepping stone then don’t worry too much about it, you can always bridge the gap with quality literature little by little if that is where you are in this season.
“One more thing is of vital importance; children must have books, living books. The best is not too good for them; anything less than the best is not good enough. And if it is needful to exercise economy, let go everything that belongs to soft and luxurious living before letting go the duty of supplying the books, and the frequent changes of books, which are necessary for the constant stimulation of the child’s intellectual life.”
― Charlotte Mason
Here are some favorites in our house.
(Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something from the link I may receive a small commission. All opinions are honest and I hope the links are helpful for you!)
I plan to keep adding to this list over time but what I have here are free reading books that have been enjoyed by our family so far.
Try a free trial membership to Audible Plus to see if you like it. I recommend the Plus Premium because it gives you monthly credits as well as a limited number of free books you can check out indefinitely. You may notice that once you sign up the prices are reduced for members, and you’ll want to use an internet browser to check the price before using a credit.
You can also check the Hoopla app (free with your library card) to see if there’s anything good available before buying on Audible or Kindle. Hoopla connects with your local library so the selections are different for everyone, but the limit is usually about five books per card per month. Another free option is Librivox for audiobooks and Google Books for digital books. There is a wealth of free books in the public domain.
Audio Books
Little Women Dramatized (Free on Librivox)
Whispersync books.
This is an amazing resource for encouraging struggling or dyslexic readers. Not only are they a good value to buy and often cost less than the audible alone, but the words are highlighted on the screen as they listen and read along. They can also switch seamlessly between listening and reading and the apps keep the latest spot read. You can select any of the books in Kindle and check to see if it has Whispersync enabled.
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
– Albert Einstein
Paperback and Hardcover Books
All of these are also available on Kindle.
“It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own.”
– Arthur Conan Doyle
For the younger ages
I have put these in order from baby/toddler to about seven years old although there is a lot of overlap and some books are delightful even to read or listen to as an adult. These are books that have stood the test of time in our home and have endured through multiple readings. There are so many great lists out there but these are our favorites.
Books
“When I was about eight, I decided that the most wonderful thing, next to a human being, was a book.”
– Margaret Walker
Please comment below with your own family-favorite reads. I am always looking especially for audiobooks that we can all enjoy together on road trips and finding something interesting for 6 year old up to adults is a challenge!
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