Loving reading ... and favorite picks for upper elementary!

This week's post is brought to us by Amy K. She shares some great ideas and resources for helping our kids love reading. Plus some recommendations for the upper elementary crowd! Check them out! Thanks, Amy!

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I was never a big reader when I was young but I always knew that I wanted my children to learn to love reading. I knew that their love for reading would benefit them in so many ways. Not only is reading the basis for every academic subject, but it also improves one’s creativity, comprehension, vocabulary, and writing skills.

So how did my children grow to love reading? As I thought about this question it took me back to the late toddler years. Early on we set a structured bedtime routine that included reading to our children every night before they went to bed. We enjoyed reading some of the popular children books but also found a couple of newly found favorites. Shortly after Natalie began to read, her kindergarten teacher reiterated how important it was to continue to read to your children. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, children whose parents read to them tend to become better readers and perform better in school.

Shortly before Kyle and Natalie began kindergarten a good friend told me about a book called “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons”. We worked on this book every few days and gradually increased their reading ability during the summer leading up to school. I believe the lessons they learned from this book and their consistent effort contributed to an increased understanding of how words are pronounced and laid the foundation for future reading.

Each summer between school years, we try and make reading fun and challenging. We usually set a goal to read so many books each summer to help them retain and build on their reading skills from the prior year. If they achieve their goal, Kyle and Natalie are able to pick a small prize. Another fun way to introduce reading is to read books that have a related movie. We will read the books first and then watch the movie. It is fun to compare and contrast the difference between the two. For one of Kyle’s school projects last year, he did a video book review of his favorite book and movie counterpart.

Below I have included some of our children’s favorite books. Their favorite series to date is Percy Jackson and the Olympians. A friend of Kyle’s recommend these books to him and my children have read these over and over.

Favorite Series
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

Favorite Authors
Kate Dicamillo
Roald Dahl