There are three weeks until school starts for my kids, and I keep hearing myself say, “Where’s your summer reading book?” or “You’re bored? Go grab your summer reading book.” I mix it up sometimes with, “Have you done a page in your math packet today?” But the response is always the same: An eye roll followed by, “Ugggghhhhhhh. Mooooom…stooooop it.”
Here are a few tricks to getting that last book, or math packet, finished without too much protest. See what works, and let us know how your kids are powering through their summer assignments!
Read together. We got back from the beach today and everyone was super-tired. Bud fell asleep on the sofa and my husband and I didn’t feel like plopping down in front of the TV. So, when the question came up, “Can I watch a show?” we went with “Come read with us in our room.” We did get the eye roll, but that was it. Note her Kindle in the background. 😉
My review on The Whole Brain Child coming soon in another post.
Read aloud. Either you read aloud, have your child read aloud (to you, a pet, a sibling), or have them listen to someone else read aloud for the audiobook version. Any combination of these would work as well – take turns or do a chapter from an audiobook, then a chapter with you acting as narrator. Btw, listening to a book is NOT cheating! It’s great to follow along in the book while listening, but listening to stories read aloud helps kids build strong reading habits like visualization, prediction, and making inferences.
Make reading a priority. We, as parents, know all too well that some things just have to get done, like feeding the dog or putting toys away. So, after I’ve tried every trick in the book, sometimes my best option is to level with my kids. When I reach this moment with my kids, I try my best to patiently explain why the thing has to be done. I’ll admit that this approach has never made anyone jump for joy in my house, but I’m okay with that. I keep my sights on the light at the end of the tunnel…even when my kids have protested initially, 9 times out of 10 they finish reading time with a much happier and sweeter attitude than before they started.
Anyone else dealing with end-of-summer struggles? Let us know how things are going in your house!
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