It was a proud day for me. I was dropping my son (who is 3 years old) off at preschool one day. My daughter also used to attend the same preschool when she was that age. The teacher stopped me and said “Sarah! I’ve been meaning to ask you, WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR KIDS???” I gave her a quizzical look, and she responded “they are freaky smart” She admitted that they were smarter than her own kids, and wanted to know what my secret was. The truth is I really don’t have a secret weapon, sure my kids were definitely born smart (the 3 year old is able to read chapter books), but I have also always read with my children every night at bed time.
It’s a special time every night for each of my kids, when they get one on one mommy time while we read the next chapter of whatever book we are on. My kids both very much enjoy Geronimo Stilton books right now. What is important about this reading time, though, is that you don’t JUST READ. Interact with the stories to help them understand what they are reading. If there are pictures have them count how many bananas are in the picture, or ask what a character that hasn’t been talked about in the text is doing. Like “oh what is the doggie looking at??”
One really great thing about the LeapFrog Tag sytems (both the Jr. and the regular versions) is that they assist in these interactive story questions. When you are sitting down reading with your kids and using the LeapFrog Tag products it can ask questions and create games that you may not have thought about asking. It’s a great way to help you figure out how to interact during your reading time with your kids.
Committing to reading with your kids for 20 minutes a day will help them, not only in school, but help to instill a love of reading in them for years to come. Really loving reading will help them as they grow up and head off to college when they will have to study a lot and obviously read a lot. In one study children who read 20 or more minutes per day scored in or above the 90th percentile; those who read less than 10 minutes scored below the 75th percentile. I have read with my daughter for 20 minutes a day for several years, and her first grade tests are always in the 98 or 99th percentile.
LeapFrog is doing a campaign right now to encourage parents to pledge to read to their kids at least 20 minutes every day. There are a ton of resources on their website to help kickstart your goal and set you on the right path to helping your child enjoy reading. You can get a $3.00 discount on any Tag product purchased through Leapfrog’s website during this campaign by following this link.
So please, start today and read with your kids at least 20 minutes a day. I know that they will love the one on one time with you, and they will continue to learn and grow at an amazing rate!
I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective but content and opinions expressed here are my own. To take the LeapFrog Reading Month pledge, please visit their Facebook page. #LFReadingMonth #spon
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive compensation if you make a purchase using the links.
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