We all know how important reading is, right? I mean… as teachers we pretty much shout it from the rooftops at any chance we get! We’re always telling our parents how important is is to read to their kiddos, and we try anything and everything to get them to do just that. And many of them still don’t… So, I created these reading logs as one more tool we can add to our toolbox when it comes to this!
Tell the Parents Why to Read Aloud
We’re really good at telling parents that they need to read to their kiddos, but how often do we tell them why they need to read to their kiddos? Do your parents know that…
- reading aloud to your kiddos strengthens the bond you have with them?
- reading aloud to your kiddos increases their language and vocabulary skills?
- reading aloud to your kiddos fosters a life-long love of reading?
- reading aloud to your kids leads them to be more successful in school?
- reading aloud to your kiddos is the single most important thing you can do to build the skills they will need to become successful readers?
If your parents don’t know why reading every day is important, they won’t see any value in doing it. But, if we can teach them why it’s important as we’re encouraging them to do it, the chances of them picking up that book and sitting that kiddos in their lap are WAY better!
One of the leading authorities on this is Jim Trelease. His book, “The Read-Aloud Handbook” is fantastic and will arm you with all kinds of information that you can share with your parents!
Tell the Parents How to Read Aloud
Have you ever stopped to think that the idea of reading aloud to their kiddos may be a little scary for your parents? Well… for many of them, it is! Think about it for a minute. What if no one ever grabbed a book, scooped them up, snuggled into the couch, and started reading? What if reading a story before bedtime just wasn’t a thing when they were growing up? What if they aren’t strong readers themselves and just don’t even know where to get started with it?
This is only a few of the many reasons parents may be nervous about trying to read to their kiddos every day. But, the good news is that we can teach them what to do! Just like you can give them little bits of information throughout the year about why reading is important, you can also give tips on how they can do it!
In fact, I’ve included two different pages with my reading logs that do just that!
These pages give your parents all kinds of ideas about how to get ready to read their kiddos, how to talk to their kiddos about what they’re reading, and how to foster a life-long love of reading in their kiddos!
Tell the Parents What to Read Aloud
We’re teachers, so we already have shelves and bins and baskets full of our favorite children’s books. We’ve loved them for years, and we can probably read them without even looking at the pages! But for parents who aren’t teachers, who don’t have a love for reading, and who don’t have a houseful of books, they’re going to need our help! The good news is, this is easy to do! Here are few simple ways to get good, quality children’s books into their hands:
- your school library
- the public library
- Scholastic Book Clubs
- take-home book packs
- reproducible books from guided reading or shared reading
And, you can always give your parents book suggestions as you go through the year! Send them links to books that your kiddos are really loving that month or books that go with the theme or unit you’re doing. Here are some titles that are ALWAYS favorites in my class!
I’ve got a whole post about my favorites for the beginning of the year! Just click HERE to go check it out for a few more ideas!
Get the Kiddos Involved
Once you’ve explained the why and the how to the parents, and you’ve given them plenty ideas of what to read, your next line of defense is to get the kiddos involved in the process! When a child has some ownership in the daily routine of reading, they get more excited about it, they’ll want to do it, and they’ll have a sense of pride each time they read and get to update their reading logs! Plus, they’ll be a lot more likely to ask their parents (and maybe even bug them to death!) to read to them each day!
I wanted to create something super simple that was kid-friendly and that the kiddos could keep up with themselves to some degree. If I’m giving them reading logs that ask them to write the date, the title, the number of minutes, etc., that responsibility falls 100% on the parents. But, that’s not what I wanted. I want the parents to to read with their kiddos, but then I want the kiddos keeping track of it. So, this is what I came up with!
It’s SO simple, but it works! Each day they read, they color one bus. When all the buses are colored, they color the star at the bottom and bring it back to school for a prize! I keep these right in the front of their take-home folders so that it’s always right there and they always have it! I switch them out each month and they have a new sheet with a different seasonal picture to color!
The more simple you keep it, the more likely your parents will be to do it! The more you involve the kiddos, the more likely your parents will be to do it! And the more you educate and help your parents, the more likely they’ll be to do it!
Want to grab your own set of these simple and easy reading logs? You can get them in my TPT store! Just click the image below to go straight to it!
Happy Teaching!