People have often asked me what I did to build Sarah into such an excellent writer. How did you give Nathan, your adhd child the ability to write a blog? To write a book? Why can Joel ghost write for you and no one knows the difference? How did Joy develop her skills as a speaker and writer, so that she is so articulate on her own blogs?
I was not a perfect mom and rarely in one year accomplished my educational goals with my children. But almost every day, we had devotions and read alouds–sometimes at night, sometimes in the morning, sometimes at tea times, but I kept baskets of books everywhere–in every room, in the bathrooms, in their bedrooms. And each year on birthdays and Christmas and other holidays, they all received books as gifts and I helped each of them build their own libraries.
“In the beginning was the Word (Jesus’s name–the word) and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 1
If God’s name was “word” then words and foundations of words are so very important.
So, if you do one thing right, read, read, read to your children. It is what was the foundation of the minds of all of my children.
There is so much pressure today, (as always), to conform to cultural norms–and to try to keep up with the Joneses and all the blogs and articles that everyone else writes about what kind of curriculum to use, when to put pressure on your 5 year old to become academic.
But really, really, really–the key to giving your children mental muscle power and an advantage in any kind of education, is to read outloud to that child. All research complies with this, all teachers and writers say this, Clay and I say it emphatically in our own book. Read first–read daily—turn off media and put away work books and before you do anything else, read outloud to them–and read outloud to them until they are 30! Do not think that just because they can read at 6 that you should make them read to themselves and stop reading outloud. Read to them because you get to share in mentoring, discussing ideas, your vocabulary is bigger and you can explain things and they develop better skills in thinking and writing and communicating when you read outloud.
Here is another quotation that explains the culturally rich soul and the impoverished souls because of literacy and reading. Hope you enjoy these articles.
The poor and the affluent are not communicating because they do not have the same words. When we talk of the millions who are culturally deprived, we refer not to those who do not have access to good libraries and bookstores, or to museums and centers for the performing arts, but those deprived of the words with which everything else is built, the words that open doors. Children without words are licked before they start. The legion of the young wordless in urban and rural slums, eight to ten years old, do not know the meaning of hundreds of words which most middle-class people assume to be familiar to much younger children. Most of them have never seen their parents read a book or a magazine, or heard words used in other than rudimentary ways related to physical needs and functions. Thus is cultural fallout caused, the vicious circle of ignorance and poverty reinforced and perpetuated. Children deprived of words become school dropouts; dropouts deprived of hope behave delinquently. Amateur censors blame delinquency on reading immoral books and magazines, when in fact, the inability to read anything is the basic trouble.” Peter S. Jennison
And here are the 5 winners of the book Dancing With My Father. (Sorry I was late in posting these–I was writing my book.)
Tammy McCann
Stacey
Meripng
Julie Straugh
Hippie4ever
Congratulations!
Off to Irvine, Ca to a big speech tournament with Joy. Looking forward to warmer weather.
I would love to be able to turn back the clock and read more to my children during those critical years. When my second child came along, our life changed in big ways and we spent many days in the hospital for therapy and so on. I didn’t read as much as I should have. I regret it now
Thank you! Just what I needed to be reminded of.
Hello-
I love your blog and all your books. They truly have meant a great deal to me. Maybe one day there will be a conference closer to my neck of the woods – NJ.
I had one question. Can you recommend books for that early chapter book reader? My daughter is 6 (almost 7) and it truly is challenging to find books at her level. She can read well. She enjoys the sense of accomplishment she feels by making her way through little chapters. Honestly, there is very little for her by way of the big bookstores. The popular series books are just not good. I know there is a series called Classic Starts but I prefer to read to her those types of stories from the original text.
Any suggestions would be so appreciated!!
Thank you,
Kathy
Depends on the level of reading–but I can read books have some very simple–bigger letters and some historical–also Billy and Blaze. These are not chapter books but a bridge between normal chapter books and books that are a little bit older.
My poor mother had a public Kindergarten teacher pull her aside and rebuke her, “I can tell which students are read to at home and which are not.” Ironically, my mom read to him all the time. I remember one Summer she read through the Chronicles of Narnia with him. She read to me all the way through my teens; I loved it. At Moody Bible Institute, our English professor would start the first 5 minutes of class reading to us from her devotional. I ate it up!
Because of my computer I can’t see that video, but Richard Peck’s Love and Death at the Mall is one of the most insightful books that I keep coming back to.
Just the encouragement to kick start my school morning. Keeping my eyes on the priority. That video clip was so touching and heart pricking. Thanks for sharing.
love this….”no one but a reader has ever become a writer!” thanks for the constant reminder and this video.
Sally, I try to read often to my four children. We are out of the picture books now for the most part and reading chapter books, so much of the time they just have to listen with nothing to look at. Sometimes this goes well, and sometimes it does not! It is difficult to ignore the fidgeting, noise-making, and other very distracting behaviors while I read. At one point, I approved of some quiet playing with toys during the story, but then even this became very distracting as the children dug for more “parts” (I have a soft voice that cannot be heard over Lego noise). Now I allow drawing during storytime, and it is going much more smoothly. Would you recommend this, or do you think they should just be sitting and listening instead of doing another activity at the same time? I often wonder if they are really able to attend to the book as well, or if they are more focused on their “art”.
I’m not Sally, but I do have experience with your question. My mother allowed drawing while she read to me and I can assure you I soaked up every bit of the books we read — I can still see the original mental pictures I imagined as she read Anne of GG, vividly remember Laura Ingalls, Little Women, Hans Brinker, and the list goes on and on. Reading was a treasured time w/ my mom and me and I do not believe drawing detracted from the experience. I allow my own children to sketch while we read. They have their reading-time notebooks that come out only during that time. Often they end up drawing pictures that depict what they are hearing. While there is still some squirming, I can tell they are engaged in the story. ….My 2 cents worth!
Oh yea, I went on to major in writing and literature, so something must have worked!
I hope to have a chance to watch the video today. Yesterday was a flurry of activity at our house, getting ready for my daughter’s second birthday party! I’m so glad that I won the book, because I plan on passing it on to a friend
And thanks for the encouragement to read to my children. I know I need to do that more.
Since the Mom Heart Conference…I have set aside much of our “schooling” (meaning Math, HAHA!) to get out all our favorite books and enjoy the weather and each other’s company a little more! Roxaboxin, Great Aunt Arizona, And the Relatives Came…and the list goes on. Thank you for this post. It’s a great reminder of WHY I continue to read to my children…even as they are becoming young adults.
Off to continue Freckles…have a blessed day! Oh…and good luck to Joy!
Thank you for your encouragement in this! I appreciate your ministry!
Wow! So, let me see if I understood you right. You guys believe if sometimes not all school is completed its not so bad. As long as I continue to read daily? That is a relief. It’s a comfort to go into school this week with that mind frame. My desire if for my kids to understand their faith. So, these days I try to do devotions first. If that’s all I get to I feel bad. But, it sounds like, Sally says its okay. We aren’t out to please the local districts, right. We wanna please the our Savior, right? Thanks.
Clearly the overwhelming opinion here is that reading is important, even to the detriment of other important skills, like math (Katie). But as Corie pointed out, reading tends to inspire other skills such as drawing and other artistic expressions. But what do you think about new media that blur the line between reading and videos? To make a long story short, from the ad-libbed bedtime stories I told them, I created a children’s video book with my two sons, ages 8 and 12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNkfZ59DNWM. We have many more in the works, and they’re getting pretty popular. But are they a benefit in the same way reading to your child is?