What's Your Reading Score?

October 10, 2012

My children's school has just started the Book It! program again. It’s a program we’ve done before. You or your kindergartener reads 20 books (per month), or your reading age children tackle so many pages per month. The difference this time, however, is that my son’s teacher handed me a questionnaire.

What? Am I being graded now?!!!

Yes, it turns out we all are...by our children.

The quiz served to remind me that we as parents are leading by example. So I thought it might be helpful for other parents out there to know what we are being "graded" on. Below are the questions I had to answer:

• Do you like to read?
• What was the name of the last book you read?
• Do you have a wide array of reading materials around your home, more than magazines?
• How many books do you have in your home? Less than 10   10-50   50+
• Do you let your child see you read for pleasure?
• Do you have a scheduled time set aside for reading in your house for your child...and for you?
• Do you read aloud to your child...even those who can read?
• Do you read and discuss with your child books he/she has been assigned for school?
• Do you give magazine subscriptions or books as gifts for birthdays or holidays, or as rewards?
• Does your family visit the public library?
• Does your family visit bookstores?
• Do you stress the importance of reading to your child?

I can answer "yes" to a lot of these now, but there have been times where I had to admit the answer was no. When my kids were little, I hardly read for my own pleasure at all (unless Parenting magazine counts.) Even now, as a mom of a 6 and 9-year old, I am still learning how to help my kids become better readers. Once, another mom told me in the summer she made her sons read 30 minutes each day to help them keep learning. I thought that was a great idea.

While it’s not an easy one to implement, I have stood firm and my son really enjoys it now. He has even been setting the timer on the microwave himself since Book It! started.

Yeah, score one mom!

And since I started at MCPL about a month ago, my daughter has been receiving ever more books. The other night after work, I was showing her my finds for the day, and she kind of got that look. We all know the "Mom!" look. 

I thought it was going to be a negative "Mom!" But then she exclaimed, "Mom, I love your new job!" 

Score two for me!

So what’s your grade on reading? Wherever you are on the scale, there is always room for improvement. So, why not come visit your local branch and help boost your child's reading program...and yourself!

Christina L.
Platte City Branch