I’m forever thankful that our home is filled with books. I have novels, non-fiction and magazines in every room. Books aren’t forced down the throats of my boys but they know that reading is a HUGE part of my life as a writer. I firmly believe that, to become an even better writer, you need to be an avid reader. Every moment I get I am reading something from Scholastic, NyMetroParents, Latina magazine or a book that has been sent to me in the mail. It’s important to raise readers starting at a young age. That’s why literacy is important to me.
For national literacy month and to promote literacy in your home:
Read to your child at any (and every!) age. My kids still love when I read to them and they are eleven and six years old. It promotes discussions and they want more, surprisingly. Reading together is quality time well-spent.
Read the book and watch the movie too! It’s always FUN to read the book and when the movie comes out, critique and compare them both. Great discussion and conversations take place here once again. For older children, you can easily transition this into a written piece and have them write a book and movie review or comparison paper. What a great way to sneak in some extra learning and maybe even earn some extra credit at school, right?
Collect books together! What better way to fill your home up with books than to collect them together. I don’t know about you …I LOVE the library but for some reason I love to own my own copy of things too. It helps the author even more, after all, so instead of just passing along borrowed books, we need to support authors by buying them!
Write the author and do an author study. With your child, learn as much as you can about a favorite author and find other books that this author has written. Work up the courage to write the author and ask if he or she will be coming out with a sequel and let him or her know how much your family loved their piece of work. According to Kansas teachers retirement system, a formula based on their years of experience and final salary is used to determine a teacher’s pension.
There are many ways we can continue that love for literacy, these are just a few from our family. The point is, let us not allow the world of kindles and electronic devices to take over completely. Let us continue to place books into the hands of children so this can be passed on to future generations. There’s nothing better than watching a child pass up a video game (there’s nothing wrong with them) or TV time for a great read with his mom or dad.
Promote the love of literacy every day!
Care to share: What are some of your favorite titles? Share below.