BJU Press Blog

reading habits

Getting Together with Books (Part 1)

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When I go out in public with my four young children, people make a lot of comments ranging from “Are they all yours?” to “Wow! You have your hands full.” But last week, while making a quick stop at a local grocery store, I heard a comment that I hadn’t heard before. An elderly gentleman stopped me and said, “I hope you read to these little ones every day. It’s the best thing you could do for them.”

Although, as a follower of Christ, I believe that teaching my children the gospel is the “best thing” that I can do for them, I know that reading to them is a very important part of their development. My husband and I do read to our children almost every day. We do it because we love books, but we also do it because reading aloud to our children benefits them in several ways. Here are a few of them.

1. Reading Aloud Opens Up Communication Channels

I’ve found that real teaching requires a relationship. A relationship, of course, is built on mutual trust, but it also requires mutual knowledge and shared experiences. I’ve discovered that sharing books with my children opens up doors for conversation. We can talk about a story’s characters, its underlying message, its plot, or the interesting setting. These interactions have provided wonderful opportunities to develop my children’s biblical worldview.

2. Reading Aloud Strengthens Verbal Skills

Poets and authors are linguistic artists; they create beauty with language. Through books, my children have been exposed to complex sentence structures and literary devices that they likely wouldn’t have heard in everyday conversations. I’ve also noticed that hearing stories read aloud has helped develop the vocabulary of all of my children.

3. Reading Aloud Prepares Your Child for Independent Reading

Two of my children know how to read. My rising third grader is an excellent, avid reader, and the one who just finished kindergarten is off to a good start. Story time is beneficial to them, but it’s beneficial in a special way to my three-year-old and infant. When my two younger ones sit on my lap for story time, they’re developing skills that will help them later when they learn to read. They’re getting the idea that print has a message by seeing how my eyes and attention move from the front of the book to the back, from the top of the page to the bottom, and from left to right on a line. My three-year-old is also beginning to develop comprehension skills as I ask her a few simple questions about what I read.

4. Reading Aloud Whets Your Child’s Appetite for Reading

Most of us who love books developed that love very early in life. I can trace my love for books back to when my parents used to read to me several times a day to keep me still while I received treatment for an ongoing health issue. Another BJU Press blog writer mentions a few of his favorite read-alouds in the post “The Benefits of Reading Aloud to Your Children” as he recounts how those books also helped him develop a love of reading from an early age.

Reading time at our house is one of my favorite parts of the day. My kids are usually in constant motion, so I love it when they snuggle up quietly for a few precious minutes while we experience a story together. In an upcoming post, I’ll share some tips for choosing a good read-aloud as well as a list of some of my favorites.

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Ready, Set, Read! (Part 3)

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Over the past few weeks, we’ve been sharing portions of an interview with Nancy Lohr, author and acquisitions editor for JourneyForth. In the first part of the interview, Nancy explained how the BJU Press Summer Reading Program works and gave a few tips on how to encourage reluctant readers. During the second part, she discussed how children with special needs can participate in the program. Nancy also shared some suggestions for choosing reading materials for children. Below is the final part of our interview.

image of the 2014 sumnmer reading logo

Do you have any suggestions for dealing with objectionable content in children’s literature?

It is no secret that there are plenty of books published for children and teens that do not have a biblical worldview in either the philosophical foundation of the story or in the language and actions of the characters. So what are parents to do? One approach is to pre-read all of the books children read with the goal of presenting material that has no “warts,” but that can consume so much time that children will be waiting for you.

Another approach is to choose books carefully but be prepared to discuss the content when your children encounter something in print that doesn’t square with Scripture and the direction of your home. Children in my library loved to recognize statements in books about dinosaurs that didn’t square with the creation account in Genesis 1. Depending on the age and skill of your reader, you might want to purposely read a book from a different perspective to open discussions. Armed with a trustworthy anthology, search for books from authors and publishers that are a good fit for your family. Read the annotations and discuss with your child what kinds of concerns he or she might find in a given book, and then ask your child to share a sentence or paragraph with you that matches your concern. Make these talking points, and . . . well, talk.

Help your child build discernment as he or she reads. This is a perfect time to develop the concept of our being in the world, but not of the world. Show how to go to Scripture to determine a biblical response. And give your child permission to stop reading if the content is not suitable, and then move on to another, better book.

How can parents provide incentives along the way during the BJU Press Summer Reading Program?

Additional encouragement through the eight-week program may be helpful if it is suited to the individual children. Perhaps your avid readers would like to shoot for a specific number during their reading time, like a large number of minutes or pages or books. These readers might like to read from a variety of categories that include their comfort zones, but stretch them into types of books they haven’t read yet.

Maybe the whole family can go to a favorite place outdoors and enjoy a “book-nic.” Take a blanket, pack a picnic basket meal, and carry along a book for everyone.

If your children like stickers or trinkets or snacks, consider awarding these at milestones during the program.

Incentives can help keep your children motivated during the program, but the best outcome any of us could hope for is that the children begin to be motivated by reading itself with no additional motivation needed. You are there when you hear, “Please, Mom, just one more chapter?”

How can parents model good reading habits for their children?

Join your children during their reading time to read material that interests you, and if what you are reading makes you laugh out loud, I can almost guarantee that you will hear, “What? What’s so funny?” Be in the habit of sharing with them from your own reading. “Hey, listen to this” ought to be a common phrase in your home. Model for them what you are asking of them.

Do you have a reading-related question that we haven’t covered? Let us know in a comment, and we’ll do our best to answer.