20 Ideas to Get 20 Minutes of Reading Every Night

If I know anything about the public school system, it's that your kids came home from the first day of school with the nightly homework of reading for 20 minutes. Obviously I am a huge proponent of reading, but I also want to instill in my kids a LOVE of reading, not just an ability to read. Frankly, I don't know a single kid who likes reading, "Nan ran, Ben sat, Ted talks" (I know what I said) for twenty minutes a night. Luckily, I believe there is a better way! Here are 20 ideas of ways to check off that reading homework box every night without resorting to the "sit at the table and read your baggie book" method.

Play a Word Game

Scrabble, Upwords, and our personal favorite, Letter Tycoon, are all easy ways to get your kid reading without them even realizing what's happening. If you don't have any of these, you can print off or make your own cards with letters on them and play Go Fish to make words.

Stuffed Animal Note

My oldest usually brings his favorite stuffed animal upstairs in the mornings, so she started leaving him notes for when he got home from school. I don't do it every day, but he is always tickled pink to find a note from her. (And bonus, he's in dual immersion this year so I used this note to help him practice a little Spanish.)

Co-op Bedtime Story

As long as my kids want me to read them bedtime stories, I am happy to do it. But now that my oldest can read, I will randomly have him read a paragraph or a page in the middle of the story, usually during a tense moment where he wants to know what happens next. This also works for kids just learning to read- just have them name the letters, say their sounds, or tell you the sight words they know. For older kids, you can switch off reading chapters or tell them you get to be the kid tonight while they read a chapter to you. (Hint: make sure to ask questions as they're reading. Good reading skills aren't just about sounding out words- comprehension is even more important!)

Scripture Study

Let your kids help with nightly scripture study by reading a paragraph or two. The words and language are generally much  harder, so this is a great exercise for their brains! (Same rules as above apply to younger or older kids.)

Write your own story

Play author and write your own stories! I like to cut up printer paper, staple it into a tiny book, and let them go to town. If they need some help, give them a character or idea to run with. My kids love Mo Willems pigeon books, so in the past we've written our own pigeon books to see what shenanigans we can get him up to. (I say "we" because I can't help myself- I am usually making a book with them. They love it and those silly books usually become some of their favorite bedtime stories.)

Play Teacher

Have your kids play teacher to you, younger siblings, or even pets or stuffed animals. Give them a white board to draw on, books to read for story time, and there will be sure to be plenty of reading amidst the playing.

Pass the Parent Test

Read to them- a short story, chapter from a book, anything at all- and then let them write a test for you to take about what you read them. See how close both of you were paying attention!

Read a Bedtime Story to a Sibling

This is adorable and doesn't feel like a chore for them (usually). If they don't have a sibling to read to, let them tuck in a doll or stuffed animal. 

Make a Recipe

Let your kids help with dinner or dessert, and make them read you each ingredient on a recipe card or blog. (Finally, a use for those long drawn-out stories at the beginning of recipe blogs.) 

Write Letters

Send a letter or thank you card to friends or grandparents. Let them write the letter themselves and read it to you when they're done. Usually writing one letter spawns another and another, and who doesn't like getting a good old fashioned letter in the mail?

Help with grocery or to do lists

When you need to add or cross off something from a grocery or to-do list, let your kids do it for you. Have them search for a specific item on the list to cross it off. Plus, this is one less thing for you to do.

Scavenger Hunt

Quick & easy- there are tons of lists online that you can print off and have kids check off as they find things. This one from printablesfairy.com is perfect for Fall.

Detectives

Similar to a scavenger hunt, write clues and hide them throughout the house, one leading to another until they get to a "prize" at the end. This can be as simple as a final note saying "You did it!" Make sure to save the papers to do again in a month or so- they won't remember.

Make a Bucket List

Usually in the summers I will make a summer bucket list that we check off as a family. This year, my six year old made his own bucket list and it turned out to be the cutest thing. It contained just gems as "go outside with mom" (we just had to go stand outside. That was it.) and "do whatever I want." You can get specific and make bucket lists for seasons, holidays, or even just the weekend, or you can make a general bucket list of things they want to do in their lives.

Calendar

Let your kids help you fill in a calendar for the month. Have them add things you have to do, as well as some things they want to do. (Put that bucket list from above to use!)

Check off "want" lists

Birthday, Christmas, groceries... make a list of items and let your kids read through and check off the things they want. Make sure to include gross or silly things they definitely don't want so they don't just check off everything.

Glue Stories

Print off a bunch of random words and let your kids cut them apart and glue them back together into a story. (Kids will do anything if you let them use glue. It's like magic.) Leave blank papers so they can add their own words, and include plenty of  "the" "and", etc. and phrases like "once upon a time" and "The end".

Letter toys

There are so many fun and cute letter toys- resin letters, magnetic letters, foam letters, blocks- but if you don't have any of these, just write letters on individual small pieces of paper or post it's and then say words and see how fast your kids can spell them with their letters.

Put on a Play

Write for them or have your kids write a script for a play or puppet show. Have them memorize their lines or read them as they act it out for you. Also a good excuse to dress up.

Races

Give them something to read- anything, junk mail, something on your phone, this blog- and time them for 1 minute and see how much they can read. Then time them again and see if they can read even farther.

Bonus tip: Don't be picky about what they read. "Captain Underpants" will get the job done just as easily as Shakespeare and they'll enjoy it a lot more in the process.

What did I miss?? What works for your family to teach your kids to love reading without getting burned out in the process?

Grief

 I haven't posted anything here in over a year, but true to myself I end up writing a lot more when times are hard. It probably comes across that my life is full of anger and frustrations, but I just don't find myself wanting to write much when everything is hunky-dory. Probably because I'd end up using words like hunky-dory. So basically, it's a good thing you haven't heard from me here in a year. 

But boy, what a summer it's been.

Rather than focusing on that, I wanted to share some of what I've learned this summer about grief. I hope this doesn't come across as completely preachy, because full disclosure: I've never been great with grief. I've been lucky enough in my life to not have to deal with much until now. When my cousin died nearly 3 years ago, I went over to his sister's house to be with her. She has always been the closest thing I've ever had to a sister, and I was mourning him too, but I didn't know how to deal with it or what to say. I remember sitting there awkwardly, feeling like I was in the way, when her friend came over to visit and immediately hugged her. I thought, well duh Anndee. You could have hugged her. 

All this to say, I was an infant when it came to grief, and after this summer, I'm maybe a toddler. And now I want to tell you how to do it, like all toddlers do. So buckle up.

The BIGGEST thing is that we need to be there for each other during the hard times. It's easy to avoid someone who is having a rough time, or feel like they don't want to talk to us because we don't know how to help. But let me pull from one of the deepest pits of my soul some song lyrics that changed my life in the 90's:

All you people can't you see, can't you see

How your love's affecting our reality

Every time we're down

You can make it right

And that makes you larger than life

-Backstreet Boys

I know. Legends.

Or maybe it's more appropriate to say: we should mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.

I get that in the midst of a trial or a tragedy, "comfort" feels like basically the least you can do. But trust me, it is so needed. You can't fix the problem, but you can sit with someone while they deal with it, and just not feeling alone is huge. Being able to hand someone your pain when it is so heavy and having them say I can take a little bit of this off your shoulders can change everything. 

I know so much of how we deal with grief is cultural and I have to say... we're doing it all wrong. If you find yourself saying the words, "Let me know if I can do anything", you've made a wrong turn. I know that's the usual response. I know you actually do want to help. But those words are a really nice way to feel like you've helped, without actually ever helping.

"Do you need anything?" Yes:

Dinner. We all gotta eat fifty times a day (or is that just my kids?) so food is always a great go-to even if you're afraid you're just one in a train of many bringing food over. Do it anyway. Money. I know, it's an awkward one, but it's usually true. Gas cards. A clean house. Someone to mow the lawn. Child care. At the very least, a text checking in on how you're doing. 

There is ALWAYS something you can do, but if you ask, most people won't tell you any of that. It's awkward, and we are a people who like to pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps, even though by very definiton that's impossible. So instead of asking, just do something. Show that you are there and willing to help and then maybe they'll feel safer asking for those little things that are so hard to ask for.

And finally, if someone shares with you the hard thing that they are struggling with, don't immediately start listing all the bad things that have ever happened to you, or even worse, to someone you know. We get it: life stinks sometimes. But those kind of conversations usually don't leave anyone feeling validated for their feelings. I try really hard not to be offended by those kinds of conversations because I know I've done the same thing a thousand times, but this is teaching me to be better. You learn so much more from listening than you ever will from talking, and sometimes, that little release is all someone needs.

I've had so many friends through this who I haven't even seen in person for months, but I know I can text them when I'm extra sad and they will listen and just be sad with me. I have people who check in even when they know it's usually bad news, and they haven't walked away yet. I am so, so grateful for those who have just stepped in and helped my family without question. Sometimes the weight of grief makes the whole world seem so much darker, and people who are willing to mourn with you are like a light in all that darkness. 

Everyone you meet is going through something. Let's work to just be a little kinder and lift each other up.