Tuesday’s Tip for Mom is a blog carnival hosted at Raising Olives to allow moms to share what they have learned along the path of motherhood. Join us every Tuesday as we learn and share tips and ideas for spending time with, encouraging, training or relating to our children.
Reading to Preschoolers
If you are like me, some days the time flies by, and at the end of the day you realize that you have not read one single book to your young child. In addition to reading 3 books at naptime and 3 books plus one Bible story at bedtime, I strive to read 10 or more books to my preschool aged children each day. As with all things, if I have a plan, then I am more likely to meet my goal.My "reading to toddlers in addition to naptime and bedtime plan"---
Each morning choose 10 or more books and place them on the large ottoman in the middle of your den. You could also place these books on the hearth of your fireplace, the mantel, or any sort of flat surface in the main room of your house. The plan is to make yourself stop what you are doing several times throughout the day, sit down with your preschooler and read a couple of the displayed books. When you finish reading the books, place them back on the bookshelf or in the basket or whatever you store them in. When all of the books are returned to their home, you have met your goal of reading to your preschooler for that day. It really is that simple!
Long ago a friend advised me to stop once each hour and spend 5-10 minutes of uninterrupted time with my baby/toddler/preschooler. We sing songs, play a simple game or read a couple of the displayed books. Making a point to carve out these few minutes each hour insures that I am paying attention to my young children each day. With older children and the time it requires to homeschool them and transport them to various activities, plus housework, I would frequently unintentionally ignore my preschoolers until they "needed" me, if I did not have a plan of action.
This works for me and keeps my preschoolers happy (mostly!).
Hi Roan. Thanks so much for this post. I know that I read less books to Lydia than I read to her big sisters when they were her age because now I am busy teaching Sarah and Hannah their school lessons. I really like your idea of finding a place to set out some books so we can both see them. This is simple and will be a good reminder to me to spend a few more minutes reading with Lydia throughout the day. THANKS!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips, Roan! You know I'm a strong advocate of reading aloud with your younger and older children. I have kidded that the rest of me may be terribly out-of-shape, but I have very muscular vocal cords! (I am up to about a 3 mile morning and a 3 mile evening walk, though! Thanks for your encouragement in that area of my life, too!)
ReplyDeleteOne thing we did at Christmas time when the kids were small was to gift wrap previously read books - especially our favorites. We put them in a big basket under our tree. The kids just loved the anticipation of getting to open a package, and always seemed delighted with whatever book it turned out to be - even if we had read it a dozen times before!
Thanks for all your encouragement!!
God bless!!
Roan,
ReplyDeleteI love practical, simple, workable ideas like this. It is just what I need as I rework and reevaluate our schedule.
Blessings,
Kimberly
What a great tip! I am excited to try it. The day just speeds by and before I know it, it's bedtime and I haven't read Cameron a book.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. I definitely need to focus more on Miss 2, since having the new baby.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! So glad I came across your post via Raising Olives!
ReplyDelete