Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Family Reading Challenge Begins in Two Days!


We have made a Family Reading Challenge icon.
Big sister thought it would be fun to have this
in our kitchen so that we can remember to read!
Over the past two months my daughters and I typically read two books a night before going to bed. We just love to get our pj's, grab a good childrens book and read together. We have been keeping a chart of the number of books that we read each month.

My oldest daughter has been setting challenges for herself. Each month the number is slightly getting higher. The funny thing is that for the month of March she set her goal of reading 60 books and she read 82 books. And now she wants to set a challege of reading 60 books again for April but she really wants to set a goal of 85 books. Now that is only three books more than what she read for March, but some reason, adding a higher number to her goal is just too much. I thought that was kind of funny, but the great thing is that she is reading and really the number of books she reads is not the point.
One request that big sister has asked, is that little sister and mamma keep a reading log too. So little sister will be starting her reading log as of April 1. Each night, we will color in the number of books that we read for the day. Now for mamma, I will be keeping my reading log on goodreads (you can see what I am currently reading if you like) and can keep it updated on an ongoing basis. Big sister set my goal of reading 12 books by the end of 2011. Hopefully I will reach my goal but I must admit when I read it is mostly at night, so it is very easy for me to fall asleep (minus browsing through cookbooks and art/craft books).

Currently the one book that I am really excited to read is "Drawing with Children" by Mona Brookes. Mona developed the Monart Drawing Method after she observed what she felt was a state of visual illiteracy among children.

This summer, the girls of sunroom journeys! will be starting the 10-week artwork course that is provided in the lessons of Mona's book. So far, it has been very interesting (and it is keeping my interest). It will be a wonderful 10-week course that I look foward to sharing it with my daughters and watching them grow in their love of doodling, drawing and painting.

We would love to hear from you of what books you are reading in your family, do you have a family reading challenge?

Happy reading!

4 comments:

  1. This is a great idea. My daughter loves to read but after reading one new book she goes back to read one of her old favorites. This might encourage her to keep looking for new books to read...something for me to think about...

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  2. It has worked really well for us. It has been a great motivator for her in that she can see how she is progressing. We read together and then I have her read by herself and she then shares with me the story. In some cases, I have read the book and other times I have not. This summer, I think I will set up little prizes along the way to change the pace. Maybe a smencil pencil, stickers, etc. She also thinks it is fun that I am reading with her and have set a goal for myself.

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  3. We're doing the Picture Book Challenge (http://www.theresabook.com/read-to-me-picture-book-reading-challenge/). My guy is only 2 so we're doing the "reading with a child" challenge but I'm hoping to continue similar challenges as he gets older and reads on his own. I also really want to do one of those caterpillars or trains that go around the wall adding on each book he reads-- they look so cute!

    For myself I also signed up for multiple reading challenges this year to encourage me to take the time to read. I love to read, but during his first 2 years I found it very hard to find any time to do it. With these challenges I am getting some reading done and that's been great.

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