Unless you were blessed with a bookworm, getting your kids to choose a book over playing/YouTube/Musical.ly any time of year is a challenge. Summer is no different, except that collectively we seem to worry more about how to turn reading into a pursuit kids choose, instead of an activity adults force.
Maybe I’m only tuning into this conversation now, but it feels like it’s happening everywhere. The New York Times recently published this guide to raising readers and Real Simple offered a game plan for summer reading in their July issue, from picking new places to crack open a book to starting a family book club, as well as tips on keeping them motivated.
I’ve been experimenting with a 20-minutes-a-day rule, even if it’s me who does the reading, even if it’s just Diary of a Wimpy Kid, in the hopes that it will turn into a longer stretch (sometimes it does). Our school librarian encouraged us all to send photos of our kids while reading this summer. (I took the pictures, but never sent them. Here’s one!) And I’m trying to change the culture in our household from reading on devices to reading physical books or magazines in front of the kids. (Easy for me, not my husband.)
What have you had the most luck with? I’d love to know.
