Jump Into A Book

Reluctant Reader Tip #3: The Cereal Box is your Best Ally

Every morning I greet my waking children with a good-morning , how do you do, as they make their way to the kitchen table.

Carefully placed are the cereal boxes in the middle of the table, bowls and spoons at each persons place, and a jug of milk. We are a cereal loving family, no doubt about that.

If you were a fly on a wall you would notice how each kid grabs a cereal box to read the back as they're eating their breakfast. It was right at that moment when I had a reluctant reader that I thought, "Why should I give this great reading opportunity to a bunch of advertising on the back of a cereal box?"

And that my reading friends is when "Cereal Box Trivia" was born. Pulling all sorts of resources from my shelves such as Trivia books, jokes, magic tricks, brain teasers, and riddles. One of my favorite books for this purpose is "Every Minute On Earth: Fun facts that happen every 60 seconds" by Steve and Mathew Murrie, illustrated by Mary Anne Lloyd.

 
Inside are one page snippets about what's happening on earth right now. They've chosen really fun categories such as: Earth, Space, The Human Body, Technology, Animals, Food, Pop Culture, and Sports.

I photo-copy one page for each cereal box. Line up your cereal boxes.

 
Place a trivia page on each box.

 
And Voila, you and your children are in for some fine morning reading.

 
Please note that I copy trivia pages on both sides of the paper to reduce paper waste. Oh and what about my reluctant reader? Was there any reading going on?......Happily the answer to that is a big fat YES!

Resources:

Time for kids Big Book of Why: 1001 Facts Kids Want to Know.

Guinness Book of World Records 2011.

Jokepedia: The Biggest, Best Silliest, Dumbest Joke Book Ever by Ilana Weitzman

The Everything Kids Giant Book of Jokes, Riddles, and Brain Teasers by Micheal Dahl 

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Poems in Your Pocket & Reluctant Reader Tip # 2

 

 

April is National Poetry Month and today, April 14th is Poem in your Pocket Day. Do you like secret little messages tucked into quiet little places like your pocket or lunch pail? My children love this and today we are sharing with classmates, friends, and neighbors alike a little rolled up poem to keep in their pockets to share with all they meet.

  

 

Reluctant Reader Tip #2

Today's theme works nicely for those who aren't quite sure they want to pick up the skill of reading. Little poems,jokes, or encouraging messages tucked inside pockets, backpacks or lunch sacks make for a nice way to reach out to your new reader. They'll love hearing from you and won't even realize they're reading.....but that's ok, you will.

 Great Poetry Resources:

Keep A Poem in Your Pocket pdf Download Keep A Poem In Your Pocket

Print Some Pocket Poems

Magnetic Poetry

Jack Prelutsky Website for Kids

Shel Silverstein Printables for your pocket

Put a Poem in your pocket

Favorite Poetry Reads

 

• 20th- Century Children's Poetry Treasury edited by Jac Prelutsky
• A Hatful of Seuss by Dr. Seuss
• A child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
• The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein
• You Read to Me, I'll Read to You by John Ciardi
• Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
• Joyful Noise: Poems for two voices by Paul Fleischman
• Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices by Paul Fleischman

A Poetry Caper

 What's your favorite poem and who will you be sharing it with?

Reluctant Reader Tip #1

Though we are a family who loves books, it came as a huge surprise when one of my children didn't have any inclination to read a book by themselves whatsoever. Though they liked to be read to, the idea of picking out a book and reading it just wasn't their cup of tea. At first a little heartbreak set in but it soon became clear that what was needed was a little creativity.

Reluctant Reader Tip #1: Provide them with books about topics they love.

Early and emerging readers are discovering their world in a whole new way. They are learning how to communicate and absorb information via their language skills. By the time a child is 8 years old they have evolved for the most part into independant learners. Each one of my children went through phases of passion between the ages of 5 and 8. Bringing them books about their interests sparked long moments  of delving into books to capture the desired information they were looking for.

Books About: Dinosaurs, horses,American Girl books, memoirs such as the Little House on the Praire series, magic, nature, gardening, space, how things work etc. ranked high on their "discovery lists".

By bringing books about topics they love shifted the focus from "you have to read" to "let's discover".  

Planned Activity: Sit down with your children, both readers and non-readers, and ask them what their favorite topics are. Things they would like to really know about. Have them make a well decorated list with all of their favorites on it and then head to the library. My children always displayed their topic lists on the fridge, that's why they made them beautiful in the first place.

 

One series I'm very fond of is the Treehouse Club by Mary Osborne. Inside the pages of these books lie incredible adventures for both boys and girls. They are designed in such a way that it tells a story while including the reader inside the process of discovering facts. Ranging in a vast variety of topics lends itself well to emerging readers.

What are your children passionate about? What types of books are they reading to squench the their curiosity thirst?

D.E.A.R. Time

The magic clock is ringing 6 p.m. . Everyone is quietly gathering their reading materials, finding a cozy corner to sit in for the next half hour. When I say everyone, I do mean everyone. You see we are getting ready for D.E.A.R. Time,which stands for Drop Everything And Read. Mimi has quite a stack of astro-physics and Herman Hesse. Little "O" is greatly engrossed in Hatchett. I have a stack of rotating books that I'm reading to Jump Into for this lovely space, and Baba (that's what the kids call their dad), is reading a variety of political magazines.

Different than family story-time, D.E.A.R. accomplishes a couple of things. First it sets an example of the importance of reading in a family setting. When your children see that reading is important to you, it will also become important to them. As they see you read a variety of material from newspapers, magazines, and books, they will also want to model that behavior of having an eclectic mix of reading material.

 

Second, D.E.A.R. time is a great segway between times of our day. 6 p.m. usually works on most days. It quiets us down so that we can prepare dinner together at 6:30. It signals that we are shifting gears and making the time to do so.

Thirdly, as your children learn to read more and more on their own, D.E.A.R. Time gives them independent reading time with a book or magazine that they think they will enjoy.

The one question I am asked over, and over again in a variety of ways, is how do I get my child to love reading? The answer is simple ......just read. If you spend 30 minutes each day reading, you can read on average 40 books a year. Maybe you've heard of the adage, "Practice makes perfect." The truth of the matter is, that practice makes permanent. So the more you read, the more you will want to read and then reading becomes a part of your daily rhythm.

For those of you who home-school, I know that many of you use reading based curriculum and this isn't even an issue . For those of us who have our children in schools it can become an issue because many classrooms read the classroom novel which doesn't allow for a lot of independent reading time. Teachers have so much to impart on their students in such a short time each day. Reading can become a "half to" even with the teachers best intentions. D.E.A.R. time allows for all of us to read what we want when we want. Sending the message at home that reading is important is one of the best ways you can support your children's teachers and of course your children.

D.E.A.R. Time is a commitment. I suggest doing it the same time every day. A time that works best for your family. If 30 minutes to start with is difficult, be kind to yourself. Start with 10 minutes and work your way up to a half hour a day. The more everyone reads, the more and longer periods of time they will want to read.

Enjoy and let us know how it's going. We would also love to know what you're reading. Take Care.