Well hey there Y’all!
We are right smack dab in the middle of Summer Break and if you’re staying home or working from home this summer, like me, I can imagine that you’re running out of ways to entertain your kids! I try to mix fun, relaxing, and outdoor activities as well as reading into each day. And today I wanted to focus on how I have been keeping my kids, specifically my son (who struggles with reading) excited about reading this summer!
I make sure to include reading, in addition to bedtime, into these long summer days for a few reasons;
- Making sure to include an educational activity, like reading, into your child’s day makes the transition back to school a little easier. Especially for younger children – you’ll thank yourself for doing this once school starts again, I promise!
- Thomas struggles with reading and comprehension. So much so that we are currently in a phase of testing for possible learning and/or reading disabilities. And keeping him practicing and regularly exposed to reading is key for making sure he doesn’t “fall too far behind” during the break from school.
- Harper is just learning to read, so like my reasoning with Thomas, practicing with her daily will hopefully help her to stay familiar with reading, and flourish in kindergarten. She sits with us while Thomas reads out loud and also has beginning readers and sight word cards that we practice with!
Secrets out…
My secret for keeping Thomas extra excited about reading this summer has been In The Book!
In The Book has hundreds and hundreds of children’s books, from personalized stories with your child as a character in the book, to their favorite classic character stories like Thomas the Tank Engine and Peter Rabbit. But even better than those options, are the Marvel, Frozen, and other Disney stories that REEAAAALLLLYYYY get my kids EXCITED! And shopping with such a passionate company gets me excited! In The Book is not only passionate about the benefits of reading, and the bond it can create between parents and children, but they are also passionate about the environment! Their books are made from environmentally friendly paper sourced from FSC approved suppliers! In The Book has an “Excellent” rating with Trustpilot and is available to shop anywhere that uses the GBP, the Euro, AUD, CAD and of course, here in the USA!
Thomas’ Book
The Infinity Saga Storybook Collection from In The Book’s Marvel selection was the perfect book to get for Thomas! It’s a collection of ALL the stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (over 180 pages!) and is in chronological order! Thank goodness because I have no clue what order they would go in otherwise! With the book being so long, I knew it would take Thomas (with some help) all summer to read – which was the goal! In addition to it being long enough to last us all summer, this book really did make an incredible gift for Thomas’ June birthday! Thomas’ mouth literally dropped open when he saw the golden foil embossed cover! Since In The Book’s merge with Simply Personalized each book comes with the option to personalize; with your child’s name on the front cover of the book, atop each and every page inside the book, a quote (as long as it’s 80 characters or less) AND you can add a photo! Books come in two sized, standard or deluxe, I opted to get Thomas the Deluxe Book version which is a whopping 19.7 x 12.6” and comes in a black gift box with foil embossing!
Learning to Love Reading
For a child who struggles with reading, like Thomas, reading time can be… a pain. It’s hard to watch your child struggle, and become frustrated that they aren’t “getting it” – this frustration often creates a negative association with whatever activity that the child struggles with, which can be hard to overcome. So I wanted to share some ways that I reinforce a positive association with reading for my kids!
- My number one tip is to ALWAYS pick books your child is ACTUALLY interested in! Not something “different” or “new” the familiarity with certain characters and storylines will instantly create a sense of comfort and confidence in your child. You can search In The Book by gender, category and age – which ranges from baby all the way to teenager – to find the perfect book that your child is interested in.
- Do some activities that connect back to your book. As we are working our way through the Infinity Saga and meeting all of the Avengers we do some sort of playing or loose activity to go along with where we are in the saga. Some days Thomas will build a character or scene from the book with Legos, other days Thomas and Harper will reenact scenes, especially the battles, which makes for some great outdoor playtime! I don’t usually preplan what actual activity they do, but I do lead them in that direction by prompting them with questions like “Hey! While you’re playing with those legos can you build Iron Man since we read about him today?” or “Why don’t you guys pick a character from what we read today and I will print a coloring page of them out for you guys to color.”
- Try to make connections between your child and their favorite storybook characters! For example; since we have started the Avengers Infinity Saga whenever Thomas does something brave, or kind, I will say “Oh Thomas! That was really brave of you, just like when Captain America was brave in our story yesterday!” This will create a sense of connection to the characters and make your child want to read more, but it will also make them want to keep reading to find other ways that they are like their favorite hero’s!
I hope this post helps y’all not only keep your kids busy this summer, but that it helps you and your child to bond together over reading! Thank you to In The Book for not only sponsoring this blog post, but also being such a great company, who cares about young minds, families and the environment!
