My kids snuggled up in my bed reading.... awwwwww
Miss Fruitarian has turned into a voracious reader. While she knew her letters in kindy, reading just pottered along at an average pace. But then towards the end of last year something just snapped into place. Since then it’s been an astonishing trajectory – helped along by the fact that she’s a nosy little thing and there’s nothing better than knowing what the road signs say, what mummy is writing in her emails and how to compile lists, lists and a few more lists laying out details for an upcoming 7th birthday party.
I’d like to take full credit, but can’t. It’s mostly her doing.
I’ve been a bit sporadic with library visits but have done well with daily bedtime stories and I have done my best to sneak off into my bed with a book on as many Sunday afternoons as possible (just trying to set a good example).
Scared by the wrath of Miss F’s teaching staff, I have however, been vigilant with the daily school readers. And BOY, aren’t THEY FUN… Yawn… I truly believe that if they were more interesting than “Jenny’s wobbly tooth” and “Plastics”, we would have much more active parent involvement. At the end of a busy day, the last thing we want to do is sit and hear a stilted rendition of “A present for dad”, complete with pictures of high-panted families from the early 80s.
If only the state governments would all pitch together and commission a series of readers by Stephenie Meyer or Jackie Collins. Wouldn’t that be great? Tales of Lucky Santangelo as a schoolgirl, scheming with baby werewolves who fight 5 year old vampires.
Anyway, I digress. Did you know that the number of books you have in your home is a huge factor in your child’s literacy levels? Really interesting article here.
So while my enthusiasm for reading painfully dull school readers may be low, I totally outdo the books-in-the-home quota. Moving house has made me realize just how many of the heavy, dusty things I own. Hundreds. Sure, they may be mainly how to draw manga ‘bishouju’ and 50 ways with salmon, but the research doesn’t seem too fussed on subject matter. I guess it’s a general indication of the importance placed on learning.
The research states, “A child whose family has 25 books will, on average, complete two more years of school than a child whose family is sadly book-less.” Interesting to ponder.
And encourage them along with this bit of craft. There’s three designs of bookmarks to have fun with.
A bookmark craftsheet – click to download
Vegie Smugglers 