Routine
My father has a lot of sayings. As siblings, my brothers and I have a tradition of collecting these sayings on a note app to cherish later. One of them is “Gotta get back to my routine,” He says, routine with a kind of flair only he can, as recognizable as a father’s whistle in a park. I digress, routine is essential to my dad, and it should be for you as well when thinking about reading with your kids.
Routine in your child’s reading sphere is the only, and I mean only, way to get them to read at a proficient rate. You can teach them how to read the long /e/ sound once, but the only way it will stick in their cute little brains is if you practice.
Think of it this way, you’re trying to learn a new skill, piano, do you look at a note and then immediately play Beethoven’s sonatas, no. You have to start from the C position and start to slowly learn each note, and practice them together over and over. The only way to guarantee that you will do this is to make a routine. Teachers know this well because this is the only way (besides coffee) to survive a day. Kids need to know what’s next, it’s how they make sense of their world. So when you think about reading with your kids, at home, and helping them get better, routine is the best way for them to keep working on their reading skills.
Let’s talk about what this looks like.
I’m going to give you three scenarios, and we’re going to fit where reading can go into them.
Scenario one:
You, the caretaker or parent, have a full-time job that gets you out the door at 6 and back home at 6 pm with your kid. Your child likes to sleep in and watch TV right when they get back from daycare, or after school. You may also have sports right after this, and you get home at 7 after eating fast food each night. You are barely sneaking by, so when would you fit it in? Here’s my suggestion: Reading in the car, even if this looks like your kids are following along with an audiobook, or reading out loud to you there, have them always do this. There is no music, except on Tuesday and Thursday, but on the other days, you are doing some sort of reading. When they get home right before bed. This is the best time. I read a book once that said this is when boys’ defenses are down, and they get really good at talking about their feelings at this time. So, find a book that fits with a particular struggle they have and read about it. Does this mean bedtime will take longer? Yes, most certainly it does. But you will not regret reading each night to your child, or having them read to you. Another way to sneak it in is during dinner. If you happen to make dinner at home or bring the takeout home with you, read right after you eat.
Scenario Two:
Your child wakes up at the butt crack of dawn. GREAAATT but for real. If you can stomach it, then get up with them and do some reading. They are fresh and likely slowed down enough that you can get what you need to get across. This way it’s already done. If you are not a morning person, lay out what they could work on the night before and ask them to work on this without you. Get them a favorite book for them and have them read alone, or a post-it that they can write words that they didn’t get.
Scenario Three:
You work from home, or are at home with your kids all day. HERE is a schedule that I wrote up for our summer. It’s simple, but after they get to watch some PBS kids, then we sit down around 8-9 and do some reading and math time. I got a workbook for the summer for them to work through, but ultimately, this is what they will be working on. If your kids do better in the afternoon, make this your reading time. We also sneak in a family book after we eat, if we eat dinner together that night. Something we can all read together and enjoy.
Regardless of what your schedule looks like, routine is a must. Your kids have less time to complain if they know it’s coming. Will they still complain… yes, they are children. But they will eventually (1-2 weeks) know what to expect and fall into line. You can live life too, if you’d rather get ice cream, but for the most part, keep the schedule. You’ll thank me.
If you want to borrow our schedule or want a print off for yourself, I have one in my store, It comes with a link for if you have CANVA and want to tweak it to look like yours. (After purchase) Trust me, you’ll truly thank me one day.
