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How To Cultivate a Culture of Reading in Your Home

Reading is such an amazing life skill. It allows you something to do just about anywhere, opens the door to learn about anything, allows you to “travel” without leaving your house and lets you disappear into an exciting story. For us parents, it allows us to spend time connecting with our kids over mutually enjoyed books. Anyone can create a culture of reading in your home. Even kids who don’t gravitate toward books can be won over! Here are a few of my tips for creating that culture of reading in your home.

Have books readily available

I’m not saying you need to go out and spend lots of money on books, your local library is a great resource as are second hand stores. If your child has so far seemed uninterested in reading, make sure you’re seeking out books that surround their interests. That may be books about hockey, skateboarding, animals, friendship, adventures, true stories, etc. You can literally find books about anything. Once you gather up the books, start strategically placing them throughout the house. I use little baskets but you can even just stack them on the floor. A few of my favourite areas to place books are: by the toilet, by the couch, on the kitchen table, in their room and in the car. Have the books positioned so the covers are noticeable and can then draw the child’s attention. Don’t make a big deal about it, just have the books out and let them be drawn in.

Make time for your kids to read

Now I am not an advocate for trying to make your home look like school, even if you’re homeschooling, but one thing I do love is the DEAR time. DEAR stands for drop everything and read. I don’t call it this at home. We just call it quiet time or reading time. We are all together all day, every day so I think it’s good for us to take some time apart after lunch. So after lunch every day, we take 30 min in our own rooms to read. The kids each have a 30 minute timer. As they get older I would love to increase this to 60 minutes. My youngest is not independently reading yet so she can listen to books that have a cd with them to read to her or she can just flip through books or play quietly in her room. But I always put books in there for her and she has a whole bin or books with CD. I also read during this time. That lets me set a good example while also giving me time to sit and recharge and read. It let’s us tackle the afternoon refreshed but also gives us all time set aside to look at books.

Read to Your Kids

Sometimes the act of reading and having to sound out and decode the words can be exhausting for kids and therefore take away from the enjoyment of the reading experience. Kids may think they don’t like books because it is too much of a struggle to both read them and understand what’s going on. Many more kids will listen, with interest, to a story being read to them. This is a great way to hook your child on books and expose them to books above their reading level, while having a shared experience over the content of the book. Be purposeful in your selection. Choose a book that will intrigue your child and draw them in to the content of the book. Experiment with different times in the day to read and see what works best. Provide opportunities for little ones to keep their hands busy while you read and consider providing a snack or cup of tea or hot cocoa to make the experience even more special. Here are a few places I like to read: at the table while they eat (hands and mouths are already busy and this helps them sit quietly to eat), when they are arguing or upset and we need to change our focus of the day, before bed, on long car rides, waiting at a doctor office for an appointment, waiting for our food in a restaurant, over afternoon tea and snacks, while they dry off and warm up on towels after swimming at a lake or our backyard pool, and sitting around a campfire. Many memories we have made reading books as a family around the campfire.

Check Your Expectations

Like all else in the journey of parenting, this takes training. Children may not automatically sit quiet to be read to. If you have been reading to your children since birth, they will likely be ready to sit and listen to one chapter of a book that grabs their interest. If you are starting reading to your kids for the first time, a couple pages may be all you get. That’s fine. Try to see each time reading aloud as an exercise in training. Another place to manage expectations is to not require children to sit still. Kids do need to learn to be quiet while we read, but quiet doesn’t necessarily equal still. Often busy hands can help kids listen to what you’re reading. Some ideas are colouring, building with blocks, playdough, kinetic sand, elastic bands on peg boards, sitting on a wobbly board, bouncing on a ball, crocheting, folding laundry, etc. As long as mouths are quiet, hands or bodies can be moving and sometimes that makes it easier to actively listen to a book.

Some Favourite Books

My number one recommendation would be to read The Read Aloud Family by Sarah MacKenzie as she writes an entire book about the benefit of reading aloud and she has recommended book lists by age in her book. She also has an instagram page with many book recommendations. I will share some of our favourites but really the biggest thing is to find a book that will draw in your child/ children.

  • The Chronicles of Narnia series
  • My Father’s Dragon series (recommended as a first chapter book for young children)
  • The Poppy series
  • The One and Only Bob
  • Who Hq books (non fiction books about people in history)
  • all Roald Dahl books
  • The Trumpet of the Swan
  • Mr. Popper’s Penguins
  • Ginger Pye
  • The Boxcar Children series
  • The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series
  • Nim’s Island
  • The Dead Sea Squirrels series
  • The Great Summer Camp Catastrophe
  • I Survived series
  • Christian Heroes Then and Now series

And there are so many more! These are just ones that we, personally, have read so far and enjoyed. There are other series’s that my kids read on their own. For instance, Hailey loves to read the Rainbow Fairy Magic series and the Nancy Drew adn the Clue Crew series. She also loves Cul – de- Sac Kids and The Littles. Those are books my 8 year old reads independently. Sophie does not read on her own yet but her favourite books to read with us are any Nick Bland books (The Very ___ Bear) and the Otter Be series. Find what they like and get that in front of them. If that doesn’t work, try a different kind of book. Sophie, at age 4, would sit for hours flipping through a 800 page dog encyclopedia. Don’t give up! Find what draws them in and be drawn in together. It’s worth it for them intellectually and for you both relationally.

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About Me

Hi I am Kristin Stewart. I consider myself so lucky to be a homeschool mommy! Before I was a mother, I was a teacher in both public and Christian boards and I loved teaching so much. However, once my first daughter was born I knew God was calling me to be at home with her. So when it was time for her to start school, homeschooling was a natural fit for us. Read More…

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Kristin Stewart
Talking about the books I got for my girls (8 and Talking about the books I got for my girls (8 and 6) for our upcoming 10 day road trip in my stories today if you need ideas.
We love using our big 100 floor chart for math. Us We love using our big 100 floor chart for math. Used it for adding 10 for grade 1 math and now skip counting review visual for grade 3 math.
Thank you so much for joining me here in the is li Thank you so much for joining me here in the is little space and joining me in the conversation about homeschool, faith and intentionally raising our kids.  I am so thankful for the friendships and the love you’ve shown me and my family this year.  See you in 2021! Happy new year!
Walking and seeing the hoarfrost never gets old. D Walking and seeing the hoarfrost never gets old.
Due to lots of upheaval over the next few months, I’m starting a slow launch with math tomorrow. We can’t get behind in math as I don’t want to school through the summer!! 

(I know..behind isn’t a thing in homeschool but I have certain goals for math I like to reach!)
Read this for the first time tonight and it might Read this for the first time tonight and it might be my fave ever
Sophie and I loved this book but be warned, it’s Sophie and I loved this book but be warned, it’s like 30 pages and the pages are covered in text. We started for bedtime last night without knowing how long it was so had to finish it this morning. 
A heart warming story about an orphan girl, a doll no one wants and a kind police man and his wife. Beautiful photos and endearing story.
Such a heart warming story about a boy who gives a Such a heart warming story about a boy who gives a sweater to a man who needs it and then at the end all his family comes through for him as well. I don’t want to give the story away but we love this one! It’s a longer one, but such a beautiful story! 

I know I’m slacking! I never wrote my blog post on these. (Sorry Mandy!) Lots has been going on here that I had no control over. I’ll get to it soon!
This is a very silly little interactive book. If y This is a very silly little interactive book. If you’re familiar with the other crayons book you’ll know the humour. This one comes with little paper dolls and built in envelopes and lots of fun extras. A very silly little Christmas story about a box of crayons.
A sweet little book about how Santa got his reinde A sweet little book about how Santa got his reindeer. We really enjoyed it.
One of our favourites! This is a sweet little stor One of our favourites! This is a sweet little story about a mouse who can’t find a house his size so he drags the people out of the nativity to use the manger. But the humans keep setting it back up!  Then he hears the Christmas story and realizes there had been no room for Jesus in the inn so he drags all the statues back into the stable and gives Jesus the manger. Then the mouse ends up finding a gingerbread house to live in. Very cute little story that also reminds us of the reason for the season.
This is the bookshelf in my 8 year olds room. Thes This is the bookshelf in my 8 year olds room. These are all chapter books she’s read on her own. She also frequently goes and grabs books we have used for read aloud from our family shelf (Roald Dahl, Mrs piggle wiggle, etc). She’s going to go on in my stories later today to talk about her faves but this gives you an overview of what’s on her shelves.  She has typical 8 year old interests but reads far above grade level.  I would think most of these would be able to be read by any grade 3 student.  She will show inside some in stories a little later.
Such an adorable book! Perfect kids missing their Such an adorable book! Perfect kids missing their grandparents. A little girl is missing her grandpa and a reindeer flies her to deliver the card and then brings her back. Beautiful illustrations and flaps to open. I flipped through it in my stories.
Such an awesome and unique story from the perspect Such an awesome and unique story from the perspective of a boy who’s father made and sold myrrh and how they ended up selling it to the wise men to bring to Jesus.  I think it shows beautifully how even working diligently at your work behind the scenes brings honour to God
This is just a cute little story about reindeer bu This is just a cute little story about reindeer but it also has cut out, peep through parts on some pages that the kids think are fun. It’s mostly in grey and white but a quick, short, cute read
❤️ ❤️
This is a sweet book written about a little Inuit This is a sweet book written about a little Inuit girl and based in Iqaluit, Nunavut. It’s a version of the 3 bears but with polar bears. It’s a cute story with beautiful illustrations that the girls loved so much.
I decided to share a book * daily * (when I get to I decided to share a book * daily * (when I get to it) and will put together a blog post as well. 
This is a cute little book about a man who gets tree that is too big so he cuts the top off and puts it outside and someone else grabs it, does the same, and so on and so forth until it ends up coming full circle with a little mouse family in the old mans house.  Just a cute little story the girls really enjoyed.
Sometimes I wonder if my teacher friends feel like Sometimes I wonder if my teacher friends feel like I’ve lost my mind, or sold out or something. Not that what people think would ever sway what I do, but I do wonder. And I always wish they’d have a conversation with me about it. Because I was extremely anti-homeschool as a teacher, so I guess in that way I’ve changed. But really, I just became educated about homeschooling. My love for, and thoughts about, education never changed. In the classroom I saw each child as an individual and I worked myself to the ground trying to reach each one; trying to figure out the best way for that individual to learn, trying to fill gaps that I hadn’t made, trying to install a love for learning. Trying to be a support for my students. And I know so many other teachers doing that every day. And I still am too. Just at home with my own kids. My ability or desire to educate hasn’t changed. So when you see me saying we made cards instead of math, you don’t have to think I’m tossing aside their learning. They’ll still do all they need to do this year for their grade level, and most likely more.  It takes far less time in a day to properly teach 2 children then to teach 25+. I don’t lose even a single moment sleep wondering about the quality of their education. 
But I also get the beauty of not handing off their character training. I get to mold them and shape them. I get to walk them through their arguments and attitudes and help build their character. I get to teach them daily that you can be kind to someone (your sister) even when they aren’t kind back. I get to teach them to think for themselves and to follow their interests. I can remind them to work diligently at all they do, as working for the Lord not men. And I get to remind them that I care way more about the character they have than they grades they have. 
I’m still pro education! I still feel like I’m working hard along side teachers with the same goal. I’m just obeying Gods calling on how to use my skill, as I trust you are. 
So if you have questions or assumptions about homeschool, ask me! I am not offended, I’m an open book, and I’m extremely confident in what we’re doing here.  Tired yes, but also confident. ❤️
My husband attended a death on his job recently th My husband attended a death on his job recently that left a man in his 80s living alone with no family in town. We decided to bring him a meal tonight. The girls asked who I was cooking for and when I told them, they wanted to make him drawings to “lift his spirits” they said. So instead of math, they made pictures. Some things are just bigger than us and more important than practicing our mental math facts. This afternoon I’m a little teary and just so dang proud to be their mama.  Needed this reminder of the goodness of their hearts amidst all the character training moments lately. ❤️❤️ Dont forget the good inside your kiddos. ❤️
The most recent post on my blog is a review of the The most recent post on my blog is a review of the company CrossTimber gifts who makes these name plaques and these worksheets based around a name
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