This post is part of my 12 Mini Goals Challenge.
Small daily habits can make a big difference over the course of a few weeks, months, or even longer. In 2016, I am going to focus on a new habit or mini goal every month. In January, I focused on Daily Movement or Exercise. In February, I focused on cutting down on evening snacking. In March, my goal was 30 days of pilates. In April, my goal was to clear my kitchen counters every night. In May, I attempted to clear out my closet 3 items at a time. In June, my goal was to reset my mornings and wake up earlier. In July, my goal was to drink more water.
Children are made readers on the laps of their parents. — Emilie Buchwald
I know the importance of reading to children and reading has been key to my girls’ lives. We spend so much time with books. They love having books read to them and also enjoy looking through and “reading” books themselves.
I am realizing that during the summer months we occasionally have days where reading is not a priority. It’s hard to have a regular nighttime reading routine when we spend the after-dinner hours outside. Their evenings are spent running around outside and we often skip bedtime reading. I know that bedtime stories are a great way to wind down and have quality time together, but we don’t often do this during the summer.
There are other days that my girls are playing so well with each other that they don’t ask for books and I don’t think of it. I want to make sure that we make books a priority every day!
My August Mini Goal: Read daily to my children and track how much time we read each day.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has great information on the benefits of promoting early literacy and learning for your children. The Books Build Connections Toolkit has publications for various ages. The toolkits have information and tips to encourage families to read with their children. Go here to print or download the toolkits based on your children’s age.
Here is an example: Sharing Books with Your 2-Year-Old
Your August Mini Goal: Read to your children daily and track the time.
(If you do not have children: set a goal for your own reading time)
Check out the appropriate Books Build Connections Toolkit (as mentioned above) for your children if you want encouragement and tips. If you need to be reminded of the benefits of reading to your children, check out the following links:
- 10 Reasons Why You Should Read to Your Kids
- 5 Great Reasons to Read to Your Kids
- 7 Reasons Why You Must Read Aloud to Your Kids at All Ages
Even if your children are older, find a book to read to them!
If you want to join me, print off the August Challenge Tracker. Track the number of minutes or number of books read. I also track multiple goals on my calendars, and the calendar leaves room for additional notes each day. It’s nice to have them written down all in one place.
Let me know if you decide to join! What are your children’s favorite books?
I would love to have you join the 12 Mini Goals Challenge. Sign up for my mailing list if you want to be e-mailed the challenge each month. If we get to a month where the goal doesn’t fit into your life, you can always tweak it to be a mini goal that works for you.
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Rebecca Cofino says
What a great idea to keep track of the time. Reading to my kids is one of my favorite things to do. They are now able to read early chapter books themselves, but we still sit down together for me to read to them before going to bed every night. It’s just so comforting to listen and share a story together.
Tineke - workingmommyabroad says
Love this! I am a big reader myself and since my son was born I try to read to him every night before he goes to bed. I love our little ritual and hope he will enjoy reading at some much as much as I do!
Brittany ~ www.followthedyers.com says
Great idea! My kiddos love to read too!
Miri says
This is inspiring! We are going to make this happen. Our son is under one but he loves flipping the books and hearing my husband make up songs about them. :)
McKinzie @ Moms Make Cents says
I love reading with my little guy! He is almost 16 months and it seems like everyday he learns a new word. It so fun to have him point at the pictures and tell me what they are!
Jenni Laplow says
Love this! Last night I read to my daughter for just 5 minutes, and I mentally made a mini goal to do a little bit of reading with her each night :)
Sumer (Grace, Giggles & Naptime) says
What a great idea! We love reading in our house, but this would be a great reminder to read even more!
Melissa says
I love reading to my baby boy every night. It is great bonding time and very relaxing.
GGMandy says
Love reading with my children. They are grown now, but we read together even in high school and talked about the books they were required to read.We homeschooled. That was probably one of the best parts of the day.
Emily says
That is great to hear that your family enjoyed reading so much!
Tina Wallace says
I am just really starting to read your blog, and I love it!!! I’m usually on blogs about decorative planners and other crafts but today I decided to look at this email – I will definitely be doing the August challenge, first of all it is a habit I want to add into my daily routine, and I am in a positive parenting book club on facebook so setting up a daily habit of reading is great for me!! Also, probably more importantly I have a 3.5 year old daughter and she absolutely loves reading! We read a large variety of books, but some of her favorite are the llama llama series, she even has some memorized just by hearing me and seeing the pictures because she has also read to me!! I am also 25 weeks pregnant so I know my 2nd daughter is able to hear my voice and reading daily will be great for her too!! Thank you for motivating me!!
Emily says
Thank you so much, Tina! I am happy you stopped by and that you are enjoying my blog. :)
My daughters enjoy the llama llama series too. So fun that your daughter has them memorized! I’m excited that you are joining in the reading challenge for both your daughter and yourself!
Tanya @ Mom's Small Victories says
I’m so happy to see daily reading as part of your mini goals. I read a lot more to my kids daily when they were little and I’ve tried to make sure my youngest (rising 1st grader) and I read everyday over the summer so he doesn’t forget his sight words. Thanks for sharing with Small Victories Sunday Linkup last week. Pinning to our linkup board and hope you join us again this weekend.