Tacoma's Summer reading club for birth through 5th grade
One World, Many Stories.
For the last couple of weeks while Summer plays hooky and Liam naps, Jack (7) and Amelia (8), spend hours lounging around and melting into the pages of their books . For the past few years, they have signed on to the fantastic Summer reading program put on by the Tacoma Public Library. While I enviously mopped the floors around them, I began to think about why they are so excited about this years program, “One World, Many Stories”.
So, why did my two bookworms sign up? Mostly for the prizes. As much as they love reading, they would easily toss their books to the side to spend the afternoon playing on a NEW LAPTOP. In reality, I would not let them play computer games all afternoon. But, it is all part of the fantasy. A big escape. This is why they love to read, for the escape.
Maybe, like me, you have done your best to expose your children to literature. As infants, I labeled pictures and colors and asked them to do the same (and then answered my own question as they were …babies). As toddlers, I asked them to repeat words and talk about the stories. Now, as I have two independent readers, I quiz them on comprehension. Then I secretly worry if they are reading at an appropriate level for their skill. I am proud to have immersed all 3 kids to literature. I am not so proud that I have come pretty close to crushing their love of books in the name of education. I just missed the land mine.
So, over the next few months, as we travel back and forth to the library with stacks of books and sloppily filled in book logs, I will take a new approach. Here is what I will, and will not do:
- I will not choose books for my children or steer their choices.
- I will travel to new libraries and request books with them online.
- I will look in their eyes and listen when they tell me (in painful length) about the hilarity of Captain Underpants.
- Sometimes, I will read, and re-read books about trucks and cars with Liam.
- Sometimes, I will devour a book along side them. I will not read to or listen to them. I deserve the escape, just as they do.
You can learn more about the Tacoma summer reading program and sign up online here: www.tpl.lib.wa.us/Page.aspx?nid=276
Have you signed up with your children? How about yourself? What are you reading in your house?
I did it. I stopped, looked Jack in the eye and listened to his Captain Underpants story. Apparently, adults and grown-ups are both buffoons. Seems to be a common theme in elementary school literature.
ReplyDeleteI proudly ignored my children today while finishing Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses. Sometimes I just can't put the books I'm reading down to build a Lego firetruck. In my opinion, being absorbed in a book is excellent role modeling. I'm currently reading Frankenstein, Crow Planet, and The Bitch in the House. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've got a serious addiction to books.
ReplyDeleteAllison, you are right, It is a good example. You also do have an addiction - but that's not such a bad thing either.
ReplyDeleteAllison, I find myself doing the same thing with really good books. Driving matchbox cars around only to crash them into a pile does not hold a candle to the escape of a great story! Hope I can pass that on successfully
ReplyDeleteI think it is almost hopeless to try to predict what books your kids will like. If I had been asked to bet, I would have never wagered that they would want to have to have heard "The Pokey Little Puppy" read to them about 500 times. What was there to like about that book? I didn't get it.
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