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The pool and the library are my favorite places to be in the summer.  It is tempting to lazily avoid activity and learning when long summer days beckon with lounging and movie marathons.  But I only have to pick up a favorite book, or take the time to pack a lunch and hit the water slide to remember the joy we always find therein.  My children are happier when they are engaged with thoughts and ideas and stories, or splashing around and diving for rings.

I have taken these lists from the book Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt.  If you are unsure about the importance of reading in our lives, I highly recommend her book.  Society benefits from being filled with readers, and there is no substitute for good reading when it comes to improving overall academic excellence or moral character.  That said, I hope you enjoy these top ten lists, and happy summer reading!

Ten Ways to Raise a Reader

1. Restrict television watching drastically.

2. Keep the computer under control and where it can be monitored.  Don’t allow too many hours on pointless computer games or in chat rooms.

3. Have books and other good reading material within easy reach, an enticement to read.

4. Let your children see you reading.

5. Read books aloud together regardless of age.

6. Talk about books togeher; play games together.

7. Have well-lit rooms with comfortable chairs that invite reading.

8. Balance activity schedules with reading time.  Let your kids know the library is as important as the gymnasium.

9. Encourage reading in bed with good lights on.

10. Visit the library often, and listen to books-on-tape when traveling.
Ten Ways to Raise a Nonreader

1. Have te television on at all times.  Make sure you put a television set an a computer in every room.  (Don’t forget the kitchen!)

2. Keep the place neat- no books or literary magazines in sight.

3. Never let your kids see you read a book.

4. Never take your kids to the library.

5. Never read stories aloud past age two.

6. Never talk about ideas while eating meals.

7. Keep the lights down low.  Buy only forty-watt lightbulbs.

8. Schedule your children for every activity possible so they won’t be bored.

9.Never play any table games together.

10. Absolutely no reading in bed or good lamps to make it easy to do so.

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