Today's blog about chapter books runs on just the right date.  Tomorrow is the annual NEA’s Read Across America. Families all over our great country will be spending quality time reading fun stories together, talking about what they've read, and sharing favorite memories about books.

Want to participate in a fun reading activity?  The company I work for, Sylvan Learning, created a cool microsite that kids and their parents can enjoy.  Motivate your child's reading by pledging to read tomorrow -- together as a family, individually, or both.  It's easy.  Just go here and get started. On this day last year I wrote about reading suggestions you can use at home.  Re-read it here.

Also, in celebration of National Reading Month, Random House will award one winner a library of Sylvan Learning language arts workbooks!  The workbooks and multi-media learning kits help students in grades K-5 build confidence and develop a love of learning.  To browse the workbooks that will be awarded, visit www.SylvanLearningBookstore.com. To enter the giveaway, please email your name, mailing address, email address, phone number, and choice of grade level to SylvanLearningProducts@randomhouse.com  by 5pm EST on Tuesday, March 2, 2010.  One winner will be randomly chosen and announced in an upcoming blog!  For complete details, see official rules.

Now, on to today's topic: chapter books.

A few days ago a reporter asked me about the benefits of reading “chapter books” to younger children.   Are there benefits?  If so, what are they?  What age should kids graduate from “Good Night Moon” to chapter books?  Any guidelines?  

Kids love feeling “grown up.”  They see their older siblings and parents reading books for pleasure (one hopes), and they want to do the same thing.  Some kids are ready at an earlier age than others, so use your own knowledge of your child.  If she’s able to hang in there for a long Disney movie, for example, and can follow – more or less – the complicated plot, then maybe it’s time for the nightly bedtime story to become a new routine – a chapter a night from a favorite book.

If you think the time is right, here are some reasons to “graduate” to chapter books and also some thoughts to keep in mind.

1. Routine building is critical at any age.  Reading age-appropriate, chapter books with compelling stories can help establish important routines.  A chapter a night, at bedtime, is a good incentive to brush those teeth, get ready for bed, and enjoy some "quality time" with you.


2. Stimulate higher order thinking skills.  Chapter books help children enjoy a long story, follow plot and character development, put events in proper order (we teachers call this skill "sequencing"), and try their hand at predicting what comes next, especially when a chapter ends on an exciting note.


3. Take time for discussion.  At the end of each chapter, just before the final tuck-in, prayers, and kisses, talk for a minute or two about the story so far.  What’s his favorite part?  Favorite character?  What would he do in such a situation?  What would you do?


4. Encourage new interests.  Chapter books can whet kids' appetites for new interests and discoveries.  Reading about an interesting historical figure, a favorite athlete, or trying a new type of story?  Introduce him to other historical or sports contemporaries as well as new story types like mysteries, biographies, science fiction, fantasy, or humor.


5. Learn about new authors.  Chapter books can enable children to discover different authors' and illustrators' styles.  (I’m partial to Jerdine Nolen and Kadir Nelson's collaborations, like the tall tale trilogy of Hewitt Anderson’s Great Big Life, Big Jabe, and Thunder Rose.  I read them to elementary age kids all the time.)  Soon the kids will be looking for more books from a favorite author and recognizing a favorite illustrator’s style.


6. Feel “grown up.”  Chapter books help little ones feel as if they’re reading on a higher level now, just like their older siblings and friends.  This increased confidence, in turn, helps encourages them to read more.  It’s a virtuous cycle.


7. Share your favorites.  Everyone remembers his or her first chapter book !  Talk about your first chapter book.  Tell why you remember it, why it made such an impression on you, how old you were when you read it.  Kids love to hear about our experiences – as long as we don’t overdo it.


8. Be a good role model.  Kids learn from us, and more often than not they do what we do, if not always what we say.  So, let them see you reading for information, for directions on how to do something, or – my favorite – for the pure pleasure of reading.  Make time in your family’s schedule and routines for reading.


9. Talk about what you’re reading now.  A good dinnertime conversation can center on what exciting, interesting, or funny book you’re reading right now.  When books are a favorite family conversation, you’re giving your child a lifelong gift – a healthy reading habit.


10. Be positive.  If your child isn’t ready for a chapter book yet, don’t make a big deal about it.  Go back to the favorite one-sitting books with joy and cheer.  He’ll be ready one day.  Enjoy the childhood as long as you can.

Today’s blog deals with motivating students.  It begins with an email from a mom with a reluctant reader and ends with news about a cool new contest that lets the winner designate $10,000 to the school of his or her choice.  Read on. 

The Dr. Rick Blog gets lots of questions about motivating reluctant readers, especially middle school boys. 

Here’s a typical example. 

A homeschoool mom tells us that her eleven –year-old son “struggles” with reading even though his skills are good.  Comprehension isn’t a problem, but even when he reads something interesting, he’ll quickly get “bored” and unfocused.  She says he’s good in other subjects, has good general knowledge, has good handwriting skills, and an excellent memory.  He just doesn’t seem to like reading. “Have I done something wrong?” she wonders. 

Homeschool mom, you haven’t done anything “wrong.”  Short attention spans and eleven-year-old boys go hand in hand.  From what you describe -- good comprehension, good memory, good handwriting, good math skills, and good grades in other subjects -- he sounds like a typical pre-adolescent.  For this age, it's not abnormal for kids to be interested in a topic for a short but intense time before going on to another interest.

You say he reads when it's a topic he's interested in, even though it's for a short period.  Here's what I'd recommend.

1. Ask the neighborhood or local school librarian for recommendations.  What are the popular books among other boys his age?  I'll bet the recommendations have something to do with sports, mystery, spookiness, humor, or science fiction.  Ask who the most popular authors are.  When he realizes that reading doesn't have to be "boring" (the most popular word for eleven-year-olds), he can discover his own favorite author or subject.
2. Ask other moms what their kids are reading.  Ask them what their kids' reading habits are, too.  You'll probably find out that your boy's reading habits are not so worrisome.
3. Don't let him slide, though.  Reading, after all, is fundamental to all other learning.  Establish some kind of reading routine the two of you can support -- a certain amount of reading time each day.  Make it pleasant and even fun.  Maybe the rest of the family can read at that time, too, so it doesn't feel like a chore meant just for him.  Encourage him to talk about his books to his friends.  If he sees that his friends are interested in Harry Potter, too, or whatever subject he chooses, he'll feel part of a group 
4. Take an interest in his reading.  Take him to the library or a book store.  Let him select the books and subjects, and give him plenty of opportunity to talk to you about what he's reading.  Ask him thought-provoking questions that require him to think and that show you're interested, too.  Books can open up lots of interesting, fun discussions.
5. Set some goals with him.  Maybe a certain number of book chapters or magazine articles each week.  Or maybe a time goal, say beginning with ten minutes of uninterrupted reading and extending to longer periods later.  Then, celebrate with him when he meets those goals.  Decide on some "rewards," like some extra time with you -- without siblings -- or an extended weekend bedtime or a favorite food treat.  Compliment his sticking to his reading routines and reaching his goals. 

Encouraging kids to enjoy reading is one of parents' and teachers' greatest challenges, but when we're successful it comes with great rewards.  Making him a lifelong reader is a gift he'll never outgrow. 

Here’s another way to motivate middle- and high-schoolers.  Check out a new online sweepstakes from the company I work for, Sylvan Learning, that allows a happy winner to designate $10,000 to the school of his or her choice. 

Starting today and ending on March 31, 2010, Sylvan’s School Success Challenge features an electronic game board filled with questions about algebra, grammar, vocabulary, and college-prep subjects, among others.  Participants get a chance to win the Grand Prize of a $5,000 Carnival^® Cruise to the Caribbean, a yearlong subscription to SylvanMathPrep.com (an online math resource for kids in grades 7-12), and that $10,000 donation to a lucky school.  Also, prizes include a Mac laptop, an Amazon Kindle^®, Nintendo^® DS, and some great gift cards.  Great for individual students, teachers and their middle or high school classes, and parents.

Interested?  Want more details?  Want to play?  Register for the challenge at www.SylvanChallenge.com.

Let the games begin!

When you're trying to increase a youngster's vocabulary, it's always best to inject a little fun into the process -- just like when you're encouraging any kind of learning.  Here are a few suggestions that could help you and may even spark some ideas of your own, just right for your child.

1. Have a fun and silly signal your child can use every time she hears you or a family member use an unfamiliar word.  Widened eyes and a finger alongside the nose, perhaps.  When she uses the signal, the person who used the word has to define it easily.  Use new words now and then, so she'll have an opportunity to use her signal.  You'll be amazed at how this increases a child's attention.  She’ll be alert to new words because you’ve made it fun.
   


2. Write new words in unorthodox ways.  Write them in sand or whipped cream.  Write them with alphabet soup.  Write them with spaghetti.  Write them with clay or Play Doh.
   


3. Use letter flashcards to spell new words.  It still amazes me that low-tech is still fun for kids and it works!
   


4. Make a "word wall" in his bedroom.  For each new word he masters, write it on a 5x7 card and make a chain that extends around the room.  Give a prize for when it reaches agreed-upon “finish lines” around the room.
   


5. When she learns a new word and then sees it in a newspaper or magazine, cut it out and paste it on construction paper.  This shows her that the words she hears in the family are “real” words that others use, too.  When she sees the word in a book that can’t be cut up or somewhere else, like on a billboard or on TV, praise her for noticing and review the word’s meaning.
   


6. Make "word art."  Use crayons, water colors, stamp-pad ink.  Make a collage of words and cut-out pictures.  Paste buttons, pasta, sparklies, or flower petals on construction paper in the shape of new words.
   


7. Have a "word of the week" journal.  Each member of the family gets to contribute a word for the whole family to learn and use.  The contributing family member writes the word on the top of the page and tells why it's important for everyone to know this word.  First person to use the word in normal family conversation gets a small prize, like the privilege of wearing a winner's "crown," which could be a fun party hat.  Fill up the journal and save it as a family keepsake.


8. Keep it active.  Teach the spelling of the new words by rhythm.  Jump rope or hop really high as she spells the word, for example.  This technique is really good for those kids who have lots of energy to expend and have a hard time sitting still.
   


9. Sing songs.  Make up funny songs about the new words he’s just learned.   We all remember better when we put our new knowledge to music.  (You still sing the alphabet song when you have to look something up.  Admit it.)
   

Use your creativity and imagination to encourage a child's building up her vocabulary.  Be patient.  Be a good role model by using new and expressive words, by reading to the child, by letting him see you reading for your own pleasure, by pointing out new words you've learned at work or in your readings.  Soon, learning new words will be a normal occurrence.  Maybe not always fun and games, but always practical and confidence-building.

Share your fun ways of increasing children’s vocabulary.  Just click on “comment” below and let the rest of us in on your secrets!