Engaging your child with books

The most remembered and loved times I have spent with all my children is when I read to them. Creating memories and building a relationship with my kids happen in many ways.  But the time with my kids reading books or listening to books on cd is the most magical and precious of all.  Soon they will be reading on their own.  In my soon to be launched book, Alphabet Smash offers great book ideas to read with your child as well as a smorgasbord of other suggestions to encourage reading.

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8 Ways to Engage Your Child With Books

1. Read, read, read! Cuddle on the couch, preferably with hot tea and a blankie, and snuggle as you read-aloud to your little one.
2. Try to make reading the same time each day.  If you homeschool, don’t forget the night time reading before bed.  It is a wonderful way to end the day, pray together, and discuss anything that may be on your child’s mind. Allow your child to choose the book. Make this a date with your child and don’t allow other things to interfere with it.
3. Make it magical! Dr. Seuss once said, “You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book.”  If you are excited about your reading time, if you anticipate it and look forward to it, then so will your child.
4. Read the same book over and over.  If you child loves a book, they will ask you to read it over and over.  Do not approach this as drudgery.  Your child is falling in love with the book and may soon know it by heart.  When it is time for your child to learn to read it, knowing the cadence, sounds, and words from memory will encourage reading.
5. Read good books. Think quality over quantity. (FIAR or BFIAR, Charlotte Mason, classics, and just good quality books)
6. Charlotte Mason said that any teaching should be in short lessons.  To build the habit of attention, keep all lessons short and meaningful.  As your child builds his/her habit of attention, then increase the time. Don’t make this time look like “school”.  Approach reading together as a special time together.
7. Ask for a narration. For real understanding, have your child tell you a paragraph, a page, or an entire story in their own words.  Nothing helps with reading comprehension like narrating.
8. Share letters with your child as you read.  For pre-school and kindergarten, do a letter of the week, incorporating the books you read with that letter.

Creating Memories with Books & Alphabet Smash

Alphabet Smash has many easy ideas for simple books to share with your kiddos, all that start with the letter of the week.  It is a fun, hands-on, relationship building Christian curriculum for your preschooler or kindergartener that encourages play.  It is an alphabet adventure that is engaging, simple to do and creates memories.  It is homeschooling intentionally.

I recently shared the inspiration for Alphabet Smash and mentioned some memories of fun and easy activities we did together.  Memories and relationship building are the biggest take aways of this curriculum.

Reading with your child is an engaging learning experience. Alphabet Smash is not a reading or phonics program, but instead a program designed for letter recognition as you explore the world around you with your children.

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Each letter of Alphabet Smash includes:

• Art
• Bible
• Character Traits
• Books
• Food
• Field trips
• Fun Alphabet Activities
• Math
• Missionaries
• Music
• Movies
• Poetry
• Science
• Social Studies

and more!

There are also free resources on my website for you to use with each letter:

1- Handwriting practice worksheets for each letter of the alphabet.

2- Bible verse copy work for each letter of the alphabet

3- Clip art for your child to learn to cut and paste for each letter of the alphabet.

4- Block letters for your child to decorate alphabetically.

5- A 5-day weekly planning sheet to pick and do only what you want to do, from a smorgasbord of possibilities, in your homeschool pre-school.

All for [symple_highlight color=”yellow”]FREE![/symple_highlight]

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If you like what you see, buy the book!

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“When we treat children’s play as seriously as it deserves, we are helping them feel the joy that’s to be found in the creative spirit. It’s the things we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in our lives.” ― Fred Rogers