National Reading Month provides opportunities to explore reading in whole new ways aimed at motivating students to read while having a bit of fun in the process. It is important to celebrate National Reading Month, and we challenge you to spend some time reading with a child …even if your child can’t read yet. It’s never too early to start!

Here is our Montessori approach to help you grow a love for reading…

Reading is one thing you can do with your kids that has been proven to not only make them more emotionally intelligent and kind; it also makes them more likely to succeed in school and career.

If you want to create kids who are readers, they need to see you read. When we read on smartphones and tablets, children don’t always connect this to reading. Let your children see you reading a book! Find ways to incorporate books into the family time that you spend together: Have time where you are reading silently and aloud together. Read the same book as your child so that you can discuss it. Look around at your local attractions, historical events, and museums, and hoose a book that relates to one of these to take a family trip to visit. This allows kids to see first-hand the connection between books and the world around them.

If reading is too challenging and a constant struggle, children do not like to read. This is why finding your child’s reading level is so important. Encourage your child to keep a list of questions they have about things they are learning and the world around them, and then help them find reading material on these topics. This teaches them that reading is a way to find information and sets them up to be able to learn on their own in the future.

Sometimes we get into a routine of reading for a certain amount of time each night before bed and simply read the words of a book aloud to our children. Instead, try to involve and engage children in reading. During reading, stop to discuss what is going on and ask them questions to assess their understanding. Discuss what the characters’ actions and words mean about how they are thinking and feeling. Ask them to put themselves in the place of the characters; what would they do? Encourage them to imagine what they are reading as if it were a movie in their head. Making reading something you do with your child as a way for them to explore and answer questions they have about the world will help them to understand the purpose and application of reading to their life.

Set up the perfect Montessori book nook!  Do you have a special reading spot in your home?

Check out these lists of some of the best Montessori books for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. Click the images below to get started!

From our own EDEN PRAIRIE MONTESSORI Blog!

http://edenprairiemontessori.com/uncategorized/reading-aloud-to-children-the-montessori-way/

From HOW WE MONTESSORI-

A Montessori teacher and parent wrote this article about how to help your child develop a love of reading. These 10 tips are fantastic and a good reminder to all parents…

http://www.howwemontessori.com/how-we-montessori/2016/05/help-me-to-grow-a-love-of-reading-a-montessori-approach-.html

From THE KAVANAUGH REPORT-

This post features 3 Steps to Create a Montessori Inspired Reading Area of your own . Just as we prepare our home for other independent activity — dressing, eating, working — it’s also important to prepare the environment for reading…

http://www.thekavanaughreport.com/2017/02/3-steps-to-create-montessori-inspired.html

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