Strengthen the Reading Habit in Your Homeschool Now

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Do you hope to have a house full of readers one day? We refer to our house as “The Book House,” but growing up, I was not a reader. It was not until I was an adult that I discovered reading for pleasure. As a homeschooling mother, I wanted to ensure that my kids loved the printed page. The holiday break has always played a huge part in keeping enthusiasm about book high. In this article I will share three ways we used our breaks to ignite our kids’ reading habit. You can being creating a love for reading right away and strengthen the reading habit by the new year!

Before the Holidays: Plan Ahead

As winter break season approaches, I would always plan to incorporate reading into our plans. When the kids were younger, that meant choosing a collection of colorful picture books for family reading time. If your children are younger, it is easier to build a reading habit if you choose a specific time to read as a family. We read at bedtime to wind down after the busy day. When we began homeschooling, we read our “school” as soon as the babies went down for a nap. Whatever the time, choose one and strengthen the reading habit. The holiday break is a great time to establish this habit if you haven’t already.

You can read about our Summer Reading Tips too.

If you have older children, they are likely to have a favorite author or series they like. Our oldest children had favorites like the How to Train Your Dragon series, the Percy Jackson Chronicles and Aragon. Authors of popular series often publish a new book in November. This is a great time to pick up a new copy, but DON’T plan of keeping it for under the tree if your child is a big fan.

We made a tradition of giving a book as a gift for the Thanksgiving break. This ensures that your child does not read the NEWEST library edition before they get the book from you as a gift.

Part of our planning ahead was that I wanted to create a library for each of our children as they grew up. Each Christmas I would choose one beautiful hardcover classic for my teens. They are usually available at a steep discount on holiday sales. By adding a book or two each year, plus their favorite author, each of my oldest kids have moved out with a well-stocked library for their future. It is a gift that bring me so much joy to see in their homes today.

Pay Attention

Much of creating and cultivating the reading habit is knowing what your child is interested in right now. As a homeschooling parent, we have the advantage of being closely involved in our child’s sphere of interests. Books are a great way to explore a topic further.

When I know my kids have an interest, I find books that can help them learn more.
amber @200fingersandtoes

It does not have to cost you anything. Most of our early years of homeschooling were done on NO budget. We used our tax return to fund our curriculum, because I saw great value in purchasing books for our home. The rest of our books came from the library for free. As we had a little more income, we could take a trip to the used bookstore to look for deals. The kids loved looking for missing volumes to their growing collections.

Don’t forget books in Holiday gift giving. The children’s great grandmother always wanted to gift the children, but the distance made that difficult. She decided to send a gift card of $10 for each child and I could not have been happier. We made a big day of it, and I would treat everyone to a hot chocolate. I think she saw the efforts I made to strengthen the reading habit at our house and wanted to support it. In a time when NEW books were a rare treat, this was a huge blessing.

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Model a Love of Books

Your kids won’t grow the reading habit in a vacuum. Make time for reading in your schedule. In all honesty, we did not hook up our TV until the oldest kids were nearing their teen years. Back in the day, we watched one DVD as a treat in the evening. What we did establish was Flat On Back time (FOB). I learned about this while at YMCA camp. One hour of quiet, spent however you want to. The kids could sleep while the babies slept, but they preferred to read. That hour led to thousands of books read.