How I Raised Three Kids to be Readers
I flat out manipulated my three kids into reading.
It started when the television broke and I couldn't find the money to get it fixed —that was back in the day when we fixed things. It was pure d hell the first week.
My three kids, boy and girl twins at 7 years old, and their younger brother at 5, and I cowered in our respective bedrooms as we let go of our addiction to television. I was so grateful I had to leave the house to go to work.
It was awful!
About two weeks passed and when I came home everything in the house felt different. I heard boisterous kid laughter out on the patio. They had gotten bored, found a bunch of appliance boxes and, after enrolling some neighbor kids, created a whole circus! Never underestimate the creativity hidden in boredom.
It was grand.
That night we actually sat down to dinner and had a conversation.
When the kids went to bed there was the usual fuss. Three or four times I stalked back to the bedrooms and insisted they quit playing, talking, wandering around and what have you — our usual bedtime routine, except…
On the fourth round I realized the boys were both hiding under the covers with flashlights… reading! Their sister had fallen asleep. Recognizing I had quiet in the house I tiptoed out of little guys’ room without busting them.
It didn't take me too many more nights to figure out that if I pretended not to notice when they were reading, but insisted every other activity cease I might be accomplishing two things — quiet quicker in the evening, which I truly wanted, and help them establish a reading habit.
It worked.
In fact it worked well, almost so well I’m kinda embarrassed to admit how simple it all was. Even today as middle aged adults a book is often the first thing my kids grab.
Love, blessings and abundance.
