Read, read, read! Some kids will take to reading and never be without a book. Some will not. Three of mine love books and will stop anything to read, especially with Mom or Dad. But there’s that one child (actually, my earliest reader) who is always reluctant. He would much rather be hanging out with friends, or kicking a ball. Once I get him to sit down and start, he [almost] always enjoys it. With this child I have to make a special effort to make a certain part of the day, “reading time.” I also have continued to read aloud to him long past the age where I need to, simply because the relationship connection is such a huge part of it for him.
Some notes from Ambleside on the Quality of Books read and the benefits of Spreading out Readings over time.
These booklists are not hard and fast, but simply the ages at which my children enjoyed them. Ambleside Online schedules most of them at some point in their readings. We tend to not follow their schedules 100% because I choose something from each kid’s year to read aloud, and then we have to shuffle selections and reading schedules.
We do read some of the more “controversial” books like A Series of Unfortunate Events and Harry Potter. What can I say, we love them.
Poetry
