This post is Sponsored by Scholastic Books. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
Ohhh the dreaded reading log! Reading is never a bad thing, in fact, it’s one of those life skills you need to constantly work on no matter what age you are! Each month Emma is given a log that needs to be completed. It’s 120 minutes over one month and increasing to 140 minutes once we go back from break, which when you narrow it down that’s about 4-5 minutes a day. And for a 1st grader with some attention issues, that’s perfect! Although, many times we go over that daily amount!
When we went to Curriculum Night and Emma’s teacher went over the Reading Log she explained that reading comes in various forms; sitting down with a book and reading it, a book being read to you, listening to an audiobook, listening and following along with a video or audiobook system. When she explained that I felt a sense of relief! Why? Some days it’s hard to get in daily reading especially if we have a busy evening after school!
So here are a few ways we get our reading in, in order to complete our reading log…
1. Sitting together Reading…Emma picks out great books! No matter if we have been to the bookstore or she has been to the library at school her choices in books are usually pretty good! Even her school librarian told me she loves to see her pick her books because she’s so independent and knows what she likes!
2. YouTube…yes, you read that correctly! I try to prep dinner the weekend before, but sometimes I don’t have a chance to, so I cook nightly! While I am cooking Emma will sit and watch a book being read on YouTube on our TV (most smart TVs have an app), and I can actually pick books she and DJ will like! Pete the Cat books are high on our list! And when you watch so many, usually YouTube will give you suggestions for more videos that are similar!
3. Audiobooks…I’ve been checking into an Audiobook subscription, or I may use my Apple Account. But much like YouTube, while we are riding in the car I will turn on a book for us to listen to! Sometimes I listen along with her, and other times I can tune it out just so I can relax my mind after work! This has been a Godsend because on days like Thursdays when we leave school/work we head to Akron (30-40 minutes away) for Speech Therapy and we are “killing two birds with one stone.” By the time we get home she’s tapped out but we have completed our reading for the day!
4. Choosing Books We Both Love…My husband is an avid Graphic Novel reader! And up until a couple of years ago, I didn’t give “comics” much credit. However, this school year we have learned Emma loves graphic novels! So we have increased the number of graphic novels we our reading!
Currently, we are reading “Diary of a Pug” Series! And what I love is that DJ will also sit down and listen to time read this book! Actually, after reading the first book, I couldn’t wait to read the second one but it wasn’t out, so we had to wait! We recently went to the bookstore we found the 2nd book so that is on our list to read before going back to school!
5. New Books…Book fair and Scholastic Books-Each month I order books for DJ through Scholastic Books, he’s not into reading as much as Emma UNLESS it’s sports-related! So I follow his lead and usually pick out books that have a sports theme! Sometimes that has me reading stats to him, but he sits and listens so we go with it! But the idea is to get books with a theme the kids like, and in turn, they will like listening and reading more!
Last year I gave both kids a $10 limit to order books from Scholastic Books, so each month they had at least two new books. We really increased the number of books in our house, but it kept both kids interested in books! And this year for Christmas we donate a lot of them that we no longer read!
I was sent a few graphic novels from Scholastic, and I was really impressed by their collection of graphic novels that appealed to boys and girls! Now that DJ is getting into reading its hard to find books that appeal to little boys!
