(This post is free for all subscribers today. I like to do that with open threads, because it’s always more fun with more people.)
Possibly as a product of all the traveling I’ve had to do for work this summer, my 5yo has seemingly reverted to toddler levels of obsession with reading. “Can we read? Mama, can we read?,” the constant refrain that inspired the title of this newsletter, which I began writing when she was three, has reappeared at full throttle.
And after years of agonizing over my eldest child learning to read — if you’ve been here for awhile, you’re familiar with this; if this sounds like something you’d like to hear about, I poured my little heart out in issue No. 42 — I don’t have to worry anymore. She’s 8yo, starting 3rd grade next week, and she can read. She is reading. (That’s her basket of current reads, between her rocking chair and her bed, above.) Thank all the ancestors and all the angels 🙏 It took so, so long to get here.
We are reading more than ever — at breakfast and when we all get home from the day and again at bedtime, picture books and poetry and chapter books, with immense pleasure in all of it. (Sometimes I intentionally stop myself in the moment to be fully present, to recognize that this might be the golden age of our reading life together, and to feel the full force of my gratitude wash over me.)
Back in January, I said my family reading goals and dreams for 2022 were to increase our before-bed reading time by 15 minutes, incorporate some American Sign Language learning books, and read my kids L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. On this, the first day of Virgo season (do I even need to tell you that I’m a Virgo?), I’m assessing my progress, or lack thereof, on those goals:
✅ We have definitely increased our before-bed reading time. We’re up to about 40 minutes — two picture books followed by at least one chapter of a chapter book. (My youngest has a hard time stopping and frequently starts screaming when we have to leave off. See: Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter; Ariki and the Giant Shark; Winnie-the-Pooh.)
❌ I have not incorporated any ASL books beyond providing some practical guides for children (the best of these, surprisingly, is a dated book from 1985 called Sesame Street Sign Language ABC with Linda Bove). BUT, I enrolled both my children in an online ASL class, which they are enjoying immensely, so maybe this wasn’t a total fail?
✅ We did read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and absolutely loved it; highly recommend. (In that January thread, someone mentioned all the decapitations, and yes, they are definitely there — but my children have actively participated in the cleaning of fish and processing of deer all their lives, so what might seem gruesome to some people just isn’t to us. I did not find any aspect of the book to be gratuitously violent, and contrary to the common opinion that the movie is better, found the narrative that was left out of the film to be some of the most enjoyable parts.)
Between now and the end of the year, I want to focus on bringing back our poetry teatimes. We used to do them all the time and haven’t in far too long. I need to set a goal to make it happen, so my goal is three poetry teatimes between September and December.
How is your family’s reading life changing? And, what’s one thing you want to focus on between now and the end of the year?
Big changes here on some fronts! My older kid has grown so much in his ability to read for enjoyment (ie not to struggle too much to find it enjoyable) and he reads a lot now, especially in the car. I don't really get how he can read IN THE CAR but a 20+ minute drive is one of his favorite places/times to settle in with a book, so whatever! He is still pretty intimidated by walls of text, and naturally gravitates towards graphic novel-style books, but that doesn't really bother me.
My younger kid is still pretty antsy and restless at reading times, but is able to mostly stay calm through a chapter of a bedtime book. It definitely has to be picture-driven and geared towards his interests in general - he is LOVING Zita the Spacegirl right now, which I don't mind doing as a read-aloud because I feel like there's enough subtext and outer-space un-reality stuff that my older kid would struggle to keep up if he were reading it on his own. We also read The Wizard of Oz this summer, and I was surprised by how much they loved it!
We are moving to a new home soon, and the boys will have separate bedrooms! I'm hoping to use the new environment to make a few changes to our bedtime/sleeping routines in general and one of those changes is, I want to read separately to each kid. I would like to read picture books to my 5-year old while my older kid draws in his room (his primary calming activity) and then leave and read a chapter of a more complex book to my older kid, something we can experience together. I cherished the times my mother read just to me, as a kid, and the difficulty in giving that to my children has long been a source of grief for me. I'm hoping that the new bedroom situation, calming space of his own, etc, helps my 5-year old become better at just laying quietly on his own for a bit, even if I have to go back in after reading a chapter with my 8-year old.
I'm in a new-to-me phase of life where my teen doesn't read very much. We went from a rhythm much like yours - reading before school, after dinner, before bed, having audio books on constantly - and now they are in the world of texting with friends and living online. I didn't think it would happen to us, and here we are. I keep reading a few pages before work and each evening, so I hope my kid seeing me continuing to read will remind them that We Are a Reading Family.
We’re just starting to learn to read here. My goal is just to make it enjoyable and not overwhelming for her to learn and for me to teach her. The stress is real.
I have two littles (two and four), so they aren't actually reading yet - haha... but we are big book lovers at our home. My four year old pretends to read them out loud (adorable!) and my two year old (who has some developmental delays) has finally started to love books as much as his big sister (hallelujah!). Our daily routines have changed a lot lately and will change again soon when my four year old starts pre-school, so I've gotten away from intentional reading times (besides at bed time - that one never changes!). So I'd really like to refocus on getting that intentional book time in at certain points during our day. Trying to be flexible as things change but committed to getting it in!
This has been on my mind, so I'm glad you brought it up. My son is 7 and a precocious reader. There's always been a bit of a disconnect between his reading abilities and his developmental stage, with him preferring books that are meant for older kids. We seem to be hitting a particular pain point as he transitions from early reader chapter books to middle grade novels. There's a big developmental difference between an 8 year old and a 12 year old! We've had to stop reading some books because they were too mature in terms of content or language. We've been working with our local bookstore to try to find some more appropriate books for younger middle-grade readers, but it's a challenge. I'm really interested to hear if anyone has any specific book recommendations for this transition.
My almost 3-year year old daughter doesn't get as excited as she used to when I read her books. Instead, she prefers to become the teacher and lead a session of "Circle Time" where Dad needs to sit silently cross-legged (criss-cross-apple-sauce as she puts it). Then she proceeds to flip through a stack of books (she won't start unless she has at least 4 lined up) and "read" them to me. Sometimes she makes up the words, sometimes she just silently flips. It's an adorable display, but I miss the good ol' days where I could just read her anything and everything with undivided attention!
My daughter is starting kindergarten and I'm feeling anxiety about how reading will be shifting from something we do together for enjoyment and connection, to a major academic subject. Partly, as a teacher, I think I know too much about school and reading which fuels my anxiety.
It’s just one big smile happening over here. I’m glad to hear your girl is reading—but you know I knew she’d get there eventually. Parenting can be so hard when you’re worried about what comes next, but it all makes sense in retrospect. <3
These days/years, my family at home consists of me, my significant other, and our two dogs. I had a goal of reading more books this year and I am up to 50 so far, mostly thanks to audio books on my daily hikes/runs.
My son just started his first year of school, and they are working on the reading curriculum, we got the story of mmmmm yesterday.
We do books at bedtime - sometimes a pile of picture books, sometimes a few chapters in whatever middle grade novel we are reading (currently the Unicorn Rescue Society, A+++ highly rcommend), and then will often read on weekend mornings or for a break during the day at the weekends. I need to get back in the habit of bringing a book with me on the school run so we can read on the way home - at least for the next month or so before the evenings close in.
I am a tracker, and use the counter app on my phone to track a few life metrics, including "books read to T" - we are at 346 books/chapters for the year. I travel 25% of the time and we alternate bedtimes when I'm here, so that doesn't count books his dad reads to him.
I'd wanted to teach him to read over the summer, but time got away from us, and I'm trying to chill and let the teachers do their thing, and keep reading as a pleasurable activity.
Sarah, my eldest (7.5) just loved the Wizard of Oz. We have now read it twice. Which edition do you have? Ours also has some beautiful illustrations. So glad you read it and enjoyed it.
Do you read to your children at the same time at night? I'm curious about your evening routine -- would you be up for sharing more? I'm also interested in your morning routine. We have no extra time in between wake up and getting to school on time that I can find, but maybe I'm not approaching this the right way and I should make the time?
Our reading life is changing as I can see the end of picture books being the focus for my youngest (cue my tears) and the beginning of her love (I hope) of chapter books. Blythe (my elder daughter, 7.5) still loves to read picture books, but the reading we do 1:1 is all chapter books at this point. I won't phase out picture books, but my youngest is showing an interest in Dory and Mercy Watson and Sophie Mouse and other early chapter books...
I'd like to focus on a return to weekend morning reading. During Covid, we were always home so we read every weekend morning for about an hour and I treasured that time. Now we have plans and sports and it feels like we rush out of the house more and I miss that time a lot.
Oh, reading through the threads below, two audiobooks that I absolutely loved this past year were memoir: Stanley Tucci's Taste and Matthew McConaughy's (sp?) Green Lights. In terms of engaging narrators, you really couldn't ask for any better. I also highly recommend Tom Hanks narrating Ann Patchett's The Dutch House (not sure I would have loved that book so much had I not listened to Tom Hanks reading it).
Here on the anniversary of this writing- my kids are 6 and 4, my 6 yo amazes me every day with his reading. He still likes us to read to him, but he is reading more and more to himself. He started taking books every day so he can read them on the bus. He sits on our couch next to a stack of 3-4 books. He can read all of Captain Underpants by himself. He wanted to do a dramatic reading of my journal from 9th grade and asked me to read substack newsletters to him (I told him I would if it’s 5ish minutes). My 4 yo hasn’t changed as much this year, he still has his favorites in the shorter books but is adding more chapter books and asking about certain words. I am reading more variety of genres this year, I joined 2 new book clubs and they like thrillers and non fiction I wouldn’t pick for myself.
Big changes here on some fronts! My older kid has grown so much in his ability to read for enjoyment (ie not to struggle too much to find it enjoyable) and he reads a lot now, especially in the car. I don't really get how he can read IN THE CAR but a 20+ minute drive is one of his favorite places/times to settle in with a book, so whatever! He is still pretty intimidated by walls of text, and naturally gravitates towards graphic novel-style books, but that doesn't really bother me.
My younger kid is still pretty antsy and restless at reading times, but is able to mostly stay calm through a chapter of a bedtime book. It definitely has to be picture-driven and geared towards his interests in general - he is LOVING Zita the Spacegirl right now, which I don't mind doing as a read-aloud because I feel like there's enough subtext and outer-space un-reality stuff that my older kid would struggle to keep up if he were reading it on his own. We also read The Wizard of Oz this summer, and I was surprised by how much they loved it!
We are moving to a new home soon, and the boys will have separate bedrooms! I'm hoping to use the new environment to make a few changes to our bedtime/sleeping routines in general and one of those changes is, I want to read separately to each kid. I would like to read picture books to my 5-year old while my older kid draws in his room (his primary calming activity) and then leave and read a chapter of a more complex book to my older kid, something we can experience together. I cherished the times my mother read just to me, as a kid, and the difficulty in giving that to my children has long been a source of grief for me. I'm hoping that the new bedroom situation, calming space of his own, etc, helps my 5-year old become better at just laying quietly on his own for a bit, even if I have to go back in after reading a chapter with my 8-year old.
I'm in a new-to-me phase of life where my teen doesn't read very much. We went from a rhythm much like yours - reading before school, after dinner, before bed, having audio books on constantly - and now they are in the world of texting with friends and living online. I didn't think it would happen to us, and here we are. I keep reading a few pages before work and each evening, so I hope my kid seeing me continuing to read will remind them that We Are a Reading Family.
All hail Virgo season 💁🏻♀️
We’re just starting to learn to read here. My goal is just to make it enjoyable and not overwhelming for her to learn and for me to teach her. The stress is real.
I have two littles (two and four), so they aren't actually reading yet - haha... but we are big book lovers at our home. My four year old pretends to read them out loud (adorable!) and my two year old (who has some developmental delays) has finally started to love books as much as his big sister (hallelujah!). Our daily routines have changed a lot lately and will change again soon when my four year old starts pre-school, so I've gotten away from intentional reading times (besides at bed time - that one never changes!). So I'd really like to refocus on getting that intentional book time in at certain points during our day. Trying to be flexible as things change but committed to getting it in!
This has been on my mind, so I'm glad you brought it up. My son is 7 and a precocious reader. There's always been a bit of a disconnect between his reading abilities and his developmental stage, with him preferring books that are meant for older kids. We seem to be hitting a particular pain point as he transitions from early reader chapter books to middle grade novels. There's a big developmental difference between an 8 year old and a 12 year old! We've had to stop reading some books because they were too mature in terms of content or language. We've been working with our local bookstore to try to find some more appropriate books for younger middle-grade readers, but it's a challenge. I'm really interested to hear if anyone has any specific book recommendations for this transition.
My almost 3-year year old daughter doesn't get as excited as she used to when I read her books. Instead, she prefers to become the teacher and lead a session of "Circle Time" where Dad needs to sit silently cross-legged (criss-cross-apple-sauce as she puts it). Then she proceeds to flip through a stack of books (she won't start unless she has at least 4 lined up) and "read" them to me. Sometimes she makes up the words, sometimes she just silently flips. It's an adorable display, but I miss the good ol' days where I could just read her anything and everything with undivided attention!
My daughter is starting kindergarten and I'm feeling anxiety about how reading will be shifting from something we do together for enjoyment and connection, to a major academic subject. Partly, as a teacher, I think I know too much about school and reading which fuels my anxiety.
It’s just one big smile happening over here. I’m glad to hear your girl is reading—but you know I knew she’d get there eventually. Parenting can be so hard when you’re worried about what comes next, but it all makes sense in retrospect. <3
These days/years, my family at home consists of me, my significant other, and our two dogs. I had a goal of reading more books this year and I am up to 50 so far, mostly thanks to audio books on my daily hikes/runs.
My son just started his first year of school, and they are working on the reading curriculum, we got the story of mmmmm yesterday.
We do books at bedtime - sometimes a pile of picture books, sometimes a few chapters in whatever middle grade novel we are reading (currently the Unicorn Rescue Society, A+++ highly rcommend), and then will often read on weekend mornings or for a break during the day at the weekends. I need to get back in the habit of bringing a book with me on the school run so we can read on the way home - at least for the next month or so before the evenings close in.
I am a tracker, and use the counter app on my phone to track a few life metrics, including "books read to T" - we are at 346 books/chapters for the year. I travel 25% of the time and we alternate bedtimes when I'm here, so that doesn't count books his dad reads to him.
I'd wanted to teach him to read over the summer, but time got away from us, and I'm trying to chill and let the teachers do their thing, and keep reading as a pleasurable activity.
Sarah, my eldest (7.5) just loved the Wizard of Oz. We have now read it twice. Which edition do you have? Ours also has some beautiful illustrations. So glad you read it and enjoyed it.
Do you read to your children at the same time at night? I'm curious about your evening routine -- would you be up for sharing more? I'm also interested in your morning routine. We have no extra time in between wake up and getting to school on time that I can find, but maybe I'm not approaching this the right way and I should make the time?
Our reading life is changing as I can see the end of picture books being the focus for my youngest (cue my tears) and the beginning of her love (I hope) of chapter books. Blythe (my elder daughter, 7.5) still loves to read picture books, but the reading we do 1:1 is all chapter books at this point. I won't phase out picture books, but my youngest is showing an interest in Dory and Mercy Watson and Sophie Mouse and other early chapter books...
I'd like to focus on a return to weekend morning reading. During Covid, we were always home so we read every weekend morning for about an hour and I treasured that time. Now we have plans and sports and it feels like we rush out of the house more and I miss that time a lot.
Oh, reading through the threads below, two audiobooks that I absolutely loved this past year were memoir: Stanley Tucci's Taste and Matthew McConaughy's (sp?) Green Lights. In terms of engaging narrators, you really couldn't ask for any better. I also highly recommend Tom Hanks narrating Ann Patchett's The Dutch House (not sure I would have loved that book so much had I not listened to Tom Hanks reading it).
Here on the anniversary of this writing- my kids are 6 and 4, my 6 yo amazes me every day with his reading. He still likes us to read to him, but he is reading more and more to himself. He started taking books every day so he can read them on the bus. He sits on our couch next to a stack of 3-4 books. He can read all of Captain Underpants by himself. He wanted to do a dramatic reading of my journal from 9th grade and asked me to read substack newsletters to him (I told him I would if it’s 5ish minutes). My 4 yo hasn’t changed as much this year, he still has his favorites in the shorter books but is adding more chapter books and asking about certain words. I am reading more variety of genres this year, I joined 2 new book clubs and they like thrillers and non fiction I wouldn’t pick for myself.