One of the things we talk about a lot here is the importance of reading with your kids. Once a month I add a new article to a series called Reading with Kids. Today I want to share a new fun summer tradition we started last year. We held our second annual Summer Family Read-a-Thon. You may have read about our first Read-a-Thon here on this blog or over at Power of Moms. If not, you may want to check them out, too.
But first…
I just have to put out this disclaimer. Please do NOT beat yourself up if your summer has been less than what you imagined it would be. Nobody has Pinterest-worthy projects going on daily in their households. Nobody. If somebody leads you to believe that lie, recognize it for what it is. Life just isn’t perfect all the time. For anyone. Our Summer Read-a-Thon is no exception.
Summer Schedule
So yes, we’ve done some weeks of successful “Learning Time” and we’ve incorporated themed days this year to make our staycation feel a little more fun.
{I’ll share more about those themed days and what we did for “Learning Time” at the end of the summer so I can give you an honest review of how they went, but so far so good.)
BUT, we still have days that do not go at all like I think they should. We still have days where my kids get too much screen time and our mealtimes and bedtimes are hours later than usual. It happens. I don’t dwell on it a lot, but I want to acknowledge that it happens because I do not for one minute want you to think I am living some perfectly structured and well-planned summer. Even the thought of that is hilarious.
Y’all, we are raising little humans. We are human, too. This means our lives will be riddled with imperfections. The sooner we can accept that and keep pushing forward, the easier it is to focus on our progress and our successes instead of wallowing in our shortcomings and mistakes.
Read-a-Thon 2.0
OK, back to the Read-a-Thon!
I announced to our family on a “Make It Monday” that we would be having our Read-a-Thon that “Thinking Thursday.” So, our “Make It” project was super simple: we printed off my update goal sheets and then the boys gathered the books they wanted to read on Thursday and wrote them on their lists (btw, if you want to use my updated goal sheet file, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, HERE ya go!). With books pulled out of bookshelves from the living room and their playroom, and random book piles on a variety of surfaces throughout the house, this delay between the day we make the list and the day we actually have the Read-a-Thon is messy.
But for me, the mess is worth it because it really builds anticipation. And to get four boys to all be excited about a day of doing nothing but reading is no easy feat, so I take the mess because for my kids it works to get them excited.
During the days between the day we started our goal sheet and the Read-a-Thon, we talk about what snacks they want. Last year I had the boys plan out their reading spots the day before the Read-a-Thon. This year I didn’t. I asked them to do it first thing in the morning while I was mixing up cookie dough and popping popcorn. I didn’t do this intentionally, but I had a really busy day that Wednesday and prepping for the Read-a-Thon slipped my mind.
We have a LOT of books at our house. But if you don’t, or your child feels like she’s read every book on the shelves, you may want to incorporate a trip to your local library or bookstore into your week. Just keep in mind that if you are trying to start a tradition, you don’t want to start by doing something you don’t want to repeat every time. Trust me: kids remember.
I brought out the popcorn popper and baked chocolate chip cookies because my boys remembered those snacks from last year.
We got a great start. My boys read willingly and independently for the first hour!
The second hour, they needed reminders to stop talking and a couple boys had to relocate to stay out of trouble.
After the second hour, I had everybody come down to the rug and we read a chapter of A Wrinkle in Time. We are reading the series together this summer. On good days, we sit together and I read a whole chapter. On other days we sit together and I read half a chapter. On those opposite-of-great days, we don’t read it.
Adding Some Games
After our chapter together, we resumed independent reading for another 20 minutes before I implemented some little games. I started setting timers for 10 or 15 minute increments. I warned the boys ahead of time that we would have an interruption in a few minutes. When the timer went off, I asked everybody to say what was happening in his story. During another timed interruption, each boy read the next sentence in his story. They actually came together to make a pretty funny mini-story! I will definitely do that one again.
The games helped stretch our reading time another hour and a half. I didn’t push it beyond that. I felt like we had spent hours reading and to me that was a success. I want the boys to look forward to doing a Read-a-Thon again next summer, so I wanted to end it on a high note.
Reflections
I think next year I will encourage my boys to choose separate rooms from the start, so they will not get distracted by each other so easily. The games still worked and were fun when they were spread-out. I am also wishing I had prepared the cookie dough the day before so it was easier for me to just bake them that morning. But this year my schedule just didn’t permit that and it wasn’t the end of the world to bake them that morning.
My little girl was a bigger challenge this year. Last year she was one and she napped through a big chunk of our Read-a-Thon. This year she was happy to have a little space to play while her brothers read, but she kept going to her brothers one at a time and tried to talk with them and rope them into playing. My hope is that next year I can schedule it for a day when my husband will be home and maybe we can take turns reading books to our baby girl (who will be THREE next summer! Aaaah! How did that happen?!).
We have all enjoyed our new Read-a-Thon tradition. My boys actually asked me when we would be having the Read-a-Thon this summer! In my book, that means success. If you are looking for a fun reading-based activity to do with your kids, I highly recommend trying a Read-a-Thon in your home! If you don’t have 5 kids, you may want to invite a few friends over to join in on the fun. But even with one child, this activity can be a lot of fun and a great way to get in a big chunk of focused reading time. Here’s a simple checklist to help you get started:
Blogiversary Giveaway #5
Speaking of books, want to win some? In honor of my blogiversary, Brenda Anderson is giving away THREE of her beautiful picture books to TWO lucky winners! You can enter below, or click here.
Brenda’s books are such cute stories with actual photos of animals from her farm. My kids love the pictures! Be sure to show Brenda some love. If you win her books or decide to buy some, please leave her some reviews on Amazon! Every author appreciates that.
Brenda has also graciously adjusted her blog schedule to put her review of my Oggie the Otter book up today! So please go over and check it out! It would be awesome if you left her a comment. She is also a big advocate for children’s literacy and has great articles about reading with kids. It’s always fun to make a like-minded friend!
{UPDATE: This giveaway has ended. Congratulations to Jennifer Muise & Nikki Simon!}
If you’ve missed any of the days in the Blogiversary Celebration so far, it’s not too late to join in on the fun!
