My kids love to read. They don’t always read the kinds of things I’d like them to read at their levels, but so long as they’re reading, I’m happy.

Summer is a great time to head out to the library for extra reading materials. Our local library has a summer reading program that includes activities for the kids on certain days of the week. It makes it easy to return books regularly.

Another resource we like is a nearby $2 bookstore. They used to charge just $1 per book but $2 is still cheap. It beats paying full price for every book the kids want. The selection is odd, but that means the kids pick up books they might not have even considered otherwise. If you don’t have such a store nearby, look for used book stores in general.

Each of my kids has a bookshelf in his or her bedroom. It makes the books very accessible for them. We’re reaching a point, however, where we’ll have to have a shared bookshelf for some books that the two older both like. An accessible book selection is wonderful at encouraging reading.

The post Reading – Day 15 of 30 Days of Keeping Kids Busy During the Summer appeared first on Home with the Kids Blog.

I just realized that I’ve been doing this Free Fun Fridays thing for over a year now. Not quite 52 posts of it, as I wasn’t too regular at first, but still quite a number of posts.

This week’s suggestion I can’t believe I haven’t made before. Read together.

With younger kids, you can read to them. If they know the story from having it read so often, encourage them to fill in the lines by pausing at points you think they know.

Take turns reading with older kids. It can be sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph or page by page, depending on what you think will work for your child’s skills.

The post Read Together – Free Fun Fridays appeared first on Home with the Kids Blog.