Our family story tellers are treasures. The grandparents, the affable uncles, the history-minded aunts, the cousins who fill in the gaps of generational memories – they’re all treasures who entertain, inspire, and encourage us.  

Become one of them.  

It’s not that hard, and our kids will love you for it.

I’ve written before about kids interviewing grandparents and other older relatives  to learn about their histories and their places in those histories.  It’s good for kids, and it’s good for grandparents.  But there’s no reason why parents and kids can’t keep the stories coming.  Kids are more interested than they let on, and we parents know more stories than we realize.

There’s nothing more welcoming than a sincere, “Come sit here by me for a while, and let’s talk.”  Watch how kids respond when they know you really mean it, that they’ll hear a good story, and that you’ll listen to their stories.

Here are some ideas for stories that can get you started.  

1. Family stories. Pique kids’ interest in their family by learning as much as you can about maternal and paternal relatives. Kids love to feel a  part of groups, and there’s no more important group than family. Research interesting (“Did you know Grammy Jones was the first woman sheriff in her town?”), amusing (“Great Uncle Phil lost his swim trunks after his high-dive at the Fourth of July competitions – right in front of the mayor!”), and informative family lore (“Cousin Louise has written a website about our family’s immigration to the U.S. in the early 20th century. We should ask her to tell us about it.”)
2. Lesson-learned stories.  Kids learn from our mistakes when we’re honest and not too preachy about them. A well-timed “teachable moment” story about the time we messed up an important test because we didn’t study enough can be worth its weight in gold.
3. Twice-told stories. Kids love hearing favorite bedtime stories over and over again, why not favorite family stories? How Mommy and Daddy met, the day I was born, the snowstorm that caved in the porch roof, rescuing Fido from the pound, the best Halloween costume ever – these are all as enjoyable the tenth time as they were the first. Plus, kids get proficient in the story and then someday tell their kids, keeping the stories and their characters alive for another generation.
4. Neighborhood stories. Just as they love being a part of a family, kids love being a part of a community. Every neighborhood has stories. Tell stories about the history of your neighborhood, what it was like years ago, memorable neighbors, and interesting occurrences.  If you’re new to your neighborhood, do a little research together.
5. Proud stories. Tell kids about the things that make you proud.  The championship softball season.  The time you surprised everyone, no more than yourself, when you won the school spelling bee. The Memorial Day when Tia Celeste was naturalized after working so hard to learn all that history. The amazing concert of your favorite entertainer that you’ll never forget.  Pride’s a sin only when it gets in the way of goodness, and you’re creating good memories for your kids here.
6. Story teller stories. Tell your kids about your favorite story tellers, how they held you spellbound, how they gave you the gift of happy memories, how you’ll never forget them.  Favorite relatives, teachers, clergy, and natural story-telling friends who make you laugh, cry, and think all at the same time.

Our stories can help kids through tough times, especially when the stories are immediately relevant (“I missed an easy fly ball in the ninth inning. I thought I’d never live it down. But I did.”) and sincere.  

Our stories can help develop kids’ language arts skills – reading, writing, speaking, and listening – especially if we write informal “story journals” as a family, read them together occasionally, tell each other stories about interesting things that happen to us every day, and listen, listen, listen.

Kids do that really, really well. Listen. They’re listening all the time. Might as well make it worth their time.

This summer we’ve been discussing how we can “inspire” our kids to keep their minds active while they’re away from school.  Kids can lose a lot of skills and knowledge during the summer when their brains aren’t working.  I know.  We teachers often have to use precious September days reviewing material kids have forgotten over the summer.  The school year’s too short as it is – in my humble opinion – so, there’s no time to waste.

Earlier this month we’ve discussed reading, writing, and math.  (Scroll down to see these blog posts.)  Today let’s talk about increasing our kids’ vocabulary.  Words are important.  The more words we have at our disposal, the better we are at expressing our thoughts, opinions, beliefs, and feelings.  Schools have put increased emphasis on language arts – reading, writing, speaking, and listening – so words are still front and center in the classroom.  Same with the workplace, where “improved communication” is always a major goal.

Here are some ideas that can help your kids grow their vocabularies during the summer.  As with all summer learning, keep it light, informal, and fun. 

1. Keep reading.  Reading opens up many doors – imagination, curiosity, discovery, knowledge, maturity, confidence – so you want to indulge your child’s natural interest in new things.  As you read together, stop occasionally to explain unfamiliar words or to help him figure out their meaning by their context, by accompanying pictures, by their roots, or by their prefixes, or suffixes.  Talk a little bit about the words.  No lessons, just parent-child conversation.
2. Reward often.  When she correctly uses a word you’ve discussed or read together, reward her with praise.  Kids love to be successful and feel accomplished.  Just like us.
3. Create word lists.  Make lists of words you’ve learned together during the summer.  Write them in your summer journal, make a “chain” of words out of construction paper and drape them around the room.  Or create a “word wall” that shows how much you’ve learned.  Make flashcards – good, old-fashioned, low-tech flashcards – of these new words and have “word sprints” to see how many he can remember in a one-minute period.
4. Make the dictionary your friend.  Surely I can’t be the only person who enjoys browsing through the dictionary and picking up a bonus word as I’m looking up another.  Develop this habit – it’s like getting two words for the price of one!  It’s also a good way to reinforce alphabetizing.  Eventually “graduate” to the Thesaurus.  E-readers make this very easy with their built-in dictionaries.
5. Use the words.  Now that you’ve learned new words with your child, use them often to reinforce their meanings and develop comfort and fluency.  Pronounce them, explain them when necessary, and give examples of how the word can be used.
6. Talk often.  Conversation is the best way to learn any language, so make plenty of time to share talks with your child about nearly any subject.  Over lemonade and snacks on a lazy afternoon.  Summer is full of fun topics like play, travel, the beach, sports, vacations, favorite family stories, memories of relatives, your own summers . . . You get the picture. 
7. Memorize.  Memorization is an important skill for school and for work.  Make a game out of it.  Memorize poetry, rhythmical hop-scotch rhymes, song lyrics, even short scenes from a favorite play or movie.  It’s good brain exercise.
8. Play.  Have fun with words.  Play word games, do crossword puzzles and word searches, compete in low-stress family spelling bees.  Get a laugh out of tongue twisters.  (I love them.  Here are two of my favorites.  “The skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk.  But the stump thunk the skunk stunk.”  And, “She stood at the door of Mrs. Smith’s fish sauce shop welcoming him in.”  Google others or make up your own.)
9. Create themes.  Make up summer word themes for new vocabulary.  Concentrate on baseball, other summer sports, super heroes, sand-castle-building, amusement park rides, or favorite hobbies.  Learn as many new words about the theme as possible.
10. Have a study buddy.  You’ve heard me advocate for study buddies in many, many blogs.  When it’s time for your student to start studying for spelling and vocabulary tests again, encourage him to have a study buddy who’ll support, challenge, and celebrate with him.

Of course when kids hear us adults using the best words for the right occasion, they’re inspired to do the same.  We don’t have to overdo it and sound artificial or stodgy, but it’s always evident when people sound like they know what they’re talking about.

And when they don’t.

Here at the Dr. Rick Blog, we’re talking lately about simple checklists we parents and teachers can use to get an idea of how our kids are doing in their Three R’s.  These simple checklists are helpful especially now at the end of the school year as we think about ways we can keep our kids’ brains active during the summer.  No sense wasting a long stretch of time out of school when we can invest a few hours a week making our  kids confident for September.  Don’t worry.  There’s still plenty of time for summer fun.

Summer’s for slowing down, not shutting down.

This is especially true if you suspect your kids are struggling.  School writing builds proficiency from year to year.  Weak skills don’t make a good foundation to build upon.

We’ve talked about math and reading.  Today’s discussion is writing.  How can we tell if our kids are ready for middle- and high-school writing?  Here are some rules-of-thumb I’ve discovered over the years.

1. Pre-Kindergarten.  Kids will “pretend” to write because they’ve seen you and their older siblings writing.  They’ll use pictures and their own made-up symbols.  Occasionally you may notice a correctly-formed letter or two.  Ask them to “read” their writing to you; it usually makes sense to them.
2. Kindergarten.  Because you’ve been reading to them, they recognize that writing goes from left to right , so their “writing” also does this.  They’re beginning to form capital and lower-case letters correctly.  They’re beginning to pay attention to phonics, so their “spelling” tries to reflect the sounds they hear.  You may see some simple sentences.
3. First grade.  First graders’ sentences connect with each other, rather than randomly, as younger kids’ sentences do.  They’re beginning to pay attention to description, and they understand simple punctuation like periods and question marks.  They’ve been studying sight words in class, so those frequently-used words are correctly spelled.
4. Second grade.  Second graders are beginning to get the hang of writing.  They’re staying within the margins, mastering spelling of their class vocabulary words, and staying on a specific topic.  (“My favorite stuffed animals are . . . )  You’ll notice a start and finish to their writing.  They’re using correct capitalization at the beginnings of sentences and some common abbreviations.  (“Mr. Mittens lives on Grason Rd.”)  If they write a difficult word, they “sound it out” phonetically, which doesn’t always work in English (“island,” “phone,” “knot”). Give them points for trying.
5. Third grade.  Third graders’ writing looks more formal, with correct spacing and margins.  They’re studying paragraphs in class, so their writing will reflect those lessons.  They’re getting creative, experimenting with dialogue, varying the lengths of their sentences, and getting pretty good with descriptions as their vocabularies grow.  Their spelling is showing an understanding of spelling rules .
6. Fourth grade.  Fourth graders are feeling like pros now.  Their writing may have a title, they’re using more dialogue, and their descriptive words are more “grown-up.”  Their punctuation is mostly correct, they use paragraphs to organize different ideas, and their spelling is improving even more.  If they’re reading consistently, their writing is improving.
7. Fifth grade.  What writers you’ve created!  They’re capturing their readers’ attention with imaginative titles and vivid vocabulary, even if their word choices aren’t exactly right.  (“I don’t like matrimony.  I prefer spaghetti.”)  Spelling is mostly correct, especially the vocabulary words they’ve been studying for five years now.   Usage – punctuation, paragraphing, spacing, capitalization – is pretty standard now.

Look over your kids’ writing assignments.  Do they more or less fall within these rules of thumb?  Are kids getting plenty of writing practice in their classes?  Do you encourage writing just for fun? 

If you suspect a skill gap, if your kids shrink from even the simplest of writing, think about getting help now.  Summer’s the perfect time.  The company I work for, Sylvan Learning , has been turning kids on to writing for over three decades.  Don’t let them go back to school in September afraid of writing assignments.  They may even write you a thank-you note!

What a cockamamie language we speak!  English derives from German, Latin, some Greek, some French, and a little bit from many other languages.  No wonder English-learners look at us native speakers and say, “How did you ever learn this?”

How come “good” and “food” look alike but sound so different?  What’s with that “s” in “island”?  Or that “g” in “gnome”?

“And your spelling,” they say.  “Every rule you teach us has an exception!  How can we keep up with that?”

They’re right.  I tell my English students there is only one rule in learning English that’s always true.  Here it is: There is no rule in learning English that is always true.

That’s why those weekly spelling tests kids get are so important.  They reinforce general spelling rules and their occasional exceptions.  They encourage kids to work hard – maybe even struggle a little, which can be a good thing – and feel the benefits of a battle well-won.

In the interest of improving some spelling tests, here are a few rules I’ve shared with elementary-through-high-school kids over the years with pretty good results.

1. The “Bossy E”.  The “e” at the end of a word with another vowel is bossy.  It makes the other vowel “shout out its name.”  For example, “mat” becomes “mate” when we add a “bossy e” to the end.  “Rid” becomes “ride,” “rod” becomes “rode,” “hop” becomes “hope,” and “cut” becomes “cute.”
2. “When two vowels go walking, the first does the talking”.  An easy-to-remember rhyme for our youngest spellers.  Put two vowels together, and almost always the first one is sounded and the second one is silent.  “Boat,” “coat,” “seat,” “bead,” “rain,” and “pain.”
3. I before E except after C or when sounded as “ay” as in “neighbor” and “weigh”.  Another easy rhyme, although most people remember only the first part.  The most common exception is “weird.”  Weird, huh? 
4. Prefixes are not “bossy,” like “e”.  When you add a prefix to a word, you don’t have to change the spelling.  Disagree, misspell, indoors, rewrite, unchanged.
5. Most suffixes are not bossy, either.  Most suffixes don’t change the spelling – ringing, ringless, printer, printed, printing, singer, singing.  Some suffixes, like “e,” need to be dropped if the suffix begins with a vowel – saving, lovable, raced, hiking, riding.  If the suffix begins with a consonant, you don’t have to bother with dropping the final “e” – careless, loveless, lonely, hopeless.  One last suffix rule – double the final consonant if the word has one syllable or the suffix begins with a vowel – sitting, napped, hopped, ripped, shopping.
6. Add apostrophe-“s” for possessives.  Dad’s car.  Jimmy’s house.  Grandma’s lasagna.  The only word this rule doesn’t work for is “it.”  The dog chased its tail.  No apostrophe.  Don’t ask why.  I don’t know why.  I didn’t write the language.  Just go with it.
7. Beware of ghosts.  “G,” “k,” or “w” as in “gnaw,” “knife,” or “wrist.”  The first letters are silent in "gn," "kn," and "wr" words. Again, don't ask why.
8. Read a lot and pay attention to the words as you read.  Good writers read a lot.  Same with good spellers.  The more you read, the more you learn about grammar, spelling, idioms, usage, and a lot of other good stuff.  Pay attention to the words as you read.  If you don’t know what a word means, look it up.  (The best benefit of e-readers: the built-in dictionary.)
9. When all else fails, memorize.  This is my go-to rule.  There are certain words I’ve always had trouble with.  Weird, ceiling, exaggerated, embarrass, and a couple others.  I’ve had to memorize them, and even then they still look wrong to me. 
10. Be persistent.  There’s much to be said for persistence, patience, and the willingness to struggle through a challenge.  The rewards are so much sweeter, aren’t they?

Yes, for some people spelling can be difficult.  Yes, it would be nice if we could all be spelling–bee champs (although, believe me, those kids work like crazy – I’ve coached some of them).  But for us mere mortals, a few tips are helpful.  I hope these are useful for you.

The other day we talked about the power of language and how poetry  helps us to express our thoughts and understand the thoughts of others.  Today, let’s continue the power-of -language theme with a simple argument for learning grammar.

I know, I know.  English teachers have The Grammar Battle just as math teachers have The Algebra Battle, social studies teachers have The Chronology Battle, and science teachers have The Dissection Battle.

“Why do we have to know this?” is the common refrain we all hear. 

I’ll let my math, social studies, and science colleagues tackle their disciplines, but I’ll take a crack at the grammar question.  It’s one I hear all the time from students, sometimes in writing.  (“This is to difacult.  I don’t no why your teaching us this.  I will nevry every need this.  Tell students to lern this on there one if they want two.”)

Let’s agree, shall we, that when we write and speak clearly, precisely, and interestingly, people will not only pay attention to our words, they’ll be interested in them and they’ll understand our meaning.  That’s the whole purpose of communication, right?

Some thoughts.

1. We all know grammar.  The human brain is a miracle.  We’re born with the neurological ability to learn language.  We spend our first couple of years listening to others speak, picking up our language’s structures, its rhythms, its sounds, its patterns.  Eventually we try to speak it ourselves, first with a few simple words, then stringing them together.  It really is remarkable.  Everyone knows grammar.
2. But we don’t know how to speak about grammar.  This is less important than innately knowing grammar, but when we want to communicate formally – in writing, say, or when proposing a toast at a wedding, interviewing for a good job, participating in class, or speaking at a community meeting – we should know how to describe our words.
3. Children learn by listening.  Kids learn English (and any other language) by listening to the adults in their world.  If we want our kids to have an advantage in school and later, it’s important that they hear relatively good grammar at home.  This doesn’t mean formal speech all the time, of course.  But it does mean giving them the ability to glide between informal and formal language, depending on the circumstances.  “Way cool!” at home.  “That book made me think,” in class.
4. Children emulate us.  Don’t blame the child for saying, “I seen it my own self,” when that’s what he’s heard all his life.  Same for “Me and Joe are going out,” or “Uncle Hans gave Gretel and I some toys.”  We want them to be ready for the world, to make a good impression, right?  Why not give them the skills, knowledge, and tools to do so?
5. Be good role models.  Parents and teachers, coaches and scout leaders, all the significant adults in kids’ lives have a responsibility to prepare our kids for the best life can offer them.  Just as there are times when we want them to dress up a little – for church, for a special occasion, for a holiday party with family – so, too, we want them to speak a little nicer at times.  Slang and informality are fine much of the time, but we want them to know when to “dress up” their language when it’s appropriate.  We teach them “please” and “thank you,” don’t we?
6. No, it’s not snobby.  Calling someone a snob because she knows how to speak and write properly in the right circumstances is like calling a gifted athlete a “hot dog” when she’s playing all-out in a championship game.  Calling her a hot dog when she’s casually hanging out with less talented friends and still playing all-out is another matter.  Same with the formal-speaking grammar freak hanging out with friends and correcting them.  Yes, that’s snobby.  And annoying.
7. Refresh your grammar knowledge.  Just as you refresh your long division rules when your kid comes home with homework skills you’ve long-since forgotten, do the same with simple grammar.  Be careful you’re not giving your kids habits that will hold them back in school and career.
8. Relax.  Grammar doesn’t have to be scary.  You know pretty much what’s correct and what ain’t.  Insist that your kids learn standard English in school, speak it as well as you can at home, and encourage them to speak it, too.  Don’t correct every little error, but if you see a pesky pattern focus on that.  “Me and Jim’s playing video games now, Mom,” is a good place to start.  When he’s fixed that, move on to another one.
9. Yes, we all make mistakes.  All the more reason to relax.  The “winners,” though are the ones who recognize when they’ve made a mistake.
10. Laugh.  Some grammar mistakes are funny.  Even when you don’t know the broken rule, you can be sure a sentence is wrong if the meaning is awkward or hilarious.  “Take off lid and push up bottom,” from a stick deodorant.  “It takes many ingredients to make our hamburgers so tasty, but the secret ingredient is our people.”  Yuck.  “Please remove all your clothes when the light goes out” at a Laundromat.  From the Internet: “Wanted: a room by two gentlemen thirty feet long and twenty feet wide.”  Some big guys!  Last one, and my favorite: “I met a man with one arm named Bob.” 

In the last Dr. Rick Blog we looked at ten summer vocabulary-building tips – with an emphasis on "fun" – that I’ve seen work over the years.

Why emphasize vocabulary-building? Words are the building blocks of language. The more words we have at our disposal, the better we area at expressing our thoughts, ideas, feelings, and beliefs. The more confident we become in school and work. The more we understand. The more facts we learn, knowledge we accumulate, references we recognize, cultures we discover, jokes we "get."

Here are ten more vocabulary-building tips.

1. Keep reading. Reading opens up many doors – imagination, curiosity, discovery, knowledge, maturity, confidence – so you want to indulge your child's natural interest in new things. As you read together, stop occasionally to explain unfamiliar words or to help him figure out their meaning by their context, by accompanying pictures, by their roots, or by their prefixes, or suffixes. Talk a little bit about the words. No lessons, just parent-child conversation.
2. Reward often. When she correctly uses a word you've discussed or read together, reward her with praise. Kids love to be successful and feel accomplished. Just like us.
3. Create word lists. Make lists of words you've learned together during the summer. Write them in your summer journal, make a "chain" of words out of construction paper and drape them around the room. Or create a "word wall" that shows how much you've learned. Make flashcards – good, old-fashioned, low-tech flashcards – of these new words and have "word sprints" to see how many he can remember in a one-minute period.
4. Make the dictionary your friend. Surely I can't be the only person who enjoys browsing through the dictionary and picking up a bonus word as I'm looking up another. (My Kindle makes it even easier with its build-in dictionary!) Develop this habit – it's like getting two words for the price of one! It's also a good way to reinforce alphabetizing. Eventually "graduate" to the Thesaurus.
5. Use the words. Now that you've learned new words with your child, use them often to reinforce their meanings and develop comfort and fluency. Pronounce them, explain them when necessary, and give examples of how the word can be used.
6. Talk often. Conversation is the best way to learn any language, so make plenty of time to share talks with your child on just about any subject. Summer is full of fun topics like play, travel, the beach, sports, vacations, favorite family stories, memories of relatives, your own summers . . . You get the picture.
7. Memorize. Memorization is an important skill for school and for work. Make a game out of it. Memorize poetry, song lyrics, even short scenes from a favorite play or movie. It's good brain exercise.
8. Play. Have fun with words. Play word games, do crossword puzzles and word searches, compete in low-stress family spelling bees. Get a laugh out of tongue twisters. (I love them. Here are two of my favorites. "The skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk. But the stump thunk the skunk stunk." And, "She stood at the door of Mrs. Smith's fish sauce shop welcoming him in." Google others or make up your own.)
9. Create themes. Make up summer word themes for new vocabulary. Concentrate on baseball, say, or Olympic swimming, sand-castle-building or favorite hobbies. Learn as many new words about the theme as possible.
10. Have a study buddy. You've heard me advocate for study buddies. When it's time for your student to start studying for spelling and vocabulary tests again, encourage him to have a study buddy who'll support, challenge, and celebrate with him.

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 [email protected]  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.