The U. S. Department of Education has designated July 29th Read Where You Are Day. Here’s what they have to say about it: “Reading over the summer makes a difference during the school year. When students are able to keep reading, they can keep learning, catch up, stay sharp and are more prepared when the new school year begins.”
Reading to your child is one of the best ways to prepare your little one for preschool. Children who’ve been read to daily since infancy have greater vocabularies, focus, and attention spans. They love books and cannot get enough of them.
I’ve kept track of a number of Hogarth kids as they’ve moved through the upper grades. Without exception, the children who excelled are voracious readers. You can help your preschooler develop the reading habit by reading at least one book a day with your child. What else can you do to encourage reading?
- Dedicate part of a bookshelf to library books you trade in on a weekly basis. Pick up as many as your library allows. That way, you’ll always have something new and fresh to read.
- While you’re at the library, select a book for yourself. Seeing a parent read for pleasure illustrates how important reading is, and positively impacts a child’s developing reading habits.
- Set up a Rain Gutter Bookshelf to display books face-out. The cover of a book is more appealing than the spine. Make it low enough on the wall for your child to maintain the book display.
- Create a Rolling Library in your car. All you need is a tote bag full of books.
Make every day a Read Where You Are day. You’ll never regret the time you and your child spend with your noses in a book.
