The Secret to Securing Your Child's Future Success

Raising children is a piece of cake...said no parent ever. Unlike adults, kids are in a perpetual state of growing into and growing out of something – whether it's clothing, foods they'll eat, wonder about Santa, sports or friendships. With more than a decade of parenting under my belt, I've noticed just when things seem to be running smoothly, we hit a bump...or should I say a growth spurt. Suddenly, my idea of “cute” doesn't jive with their sense of style or PDA is no longer tolerated when their friends are around. While I've gladly let go of diapers, The Wiggles and competing with St. Nick, there is one area I plan to hold onto longer than most – reading aloud to my children. According to Jim Trelease, author of the million copy best seller, The Read Aloud Handbook, it comes down to simple math: A child spends 900 hours a year in school and 7,800 hours outside school. Which teacher has the bigger influence? Where is there more time available for change?”

Reading is the center from which all education flows. Research shows reading aloud to your children improves their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. It's the most economical way to secure your child's future success. When my kids were toddlers, reading aloud to them was a way to “fill the time” when I was tired after a long day and needed a quiet activity to wind them down. Reading aloud became part of our bedtime routine. Once they entered school and began learning to read...reading aloud to me became the norm. At this stage reading and listening to my kids sound out each word was tedious and draining for both of us. Once they could successfully read alone, I found I missed reading to them. I missed smooshing together on the couch with them and sharing adventures that can only come from reading books together. I reinstated “story time” at our house, but finding reading material that was engaging for both my kids, ages 7 and 11 (at the time) proved to be a challenge. We took turns selecting material and agreed to stick with a book for at least three nights. If after that time, we really didn't enjoyed it, we were free to try something else. Weekly library visits turned into thrice-weekly visits. I also started something with them called “Read & Ramble” in which we selected a book and found an activity to pair with it. For example, we read E.B. White's The Trumpet of the Swan and then followed it up with a visit to the Audubon Center at Riverlands to watch some real trumpeter swans in action.

For those who may not see the value in reading aloud to a 5^th grader who can easily read to himself – Jim Trelease responds, “Your child may be reading on a 5th grade level, but what level is he listening at?” A child’s reading level doesn’t catch up to his listening level until eighth grade. A fifth grader can enjoy a more complicated plot than he can read himself.

And, if you have a child (like me) who only likes to read comic books and graphic novels– here's some exciting news (taken from The Read Aloud Handbook):

...Anyone questioning their (comic books) success in creating readers should consider this: in the IEA assessment of more than 200,000 children from 32 countries, Finnish children achieved the highest reading scores. And what is the most common choice for recreational reading among Finnish 9 year olds? 59% read a comic almost every day.

....List of authors who had extensive comic book collections -- Stephen Krashen, Cynthia Rylant, John Updike, and Ray Bradbury.

...According to Bishop Desmond Tutu: "My father was the headmaster of a Methodist primary school -- like most fathers in those days, he was very patriarchal, very concerned that we did well in school.  But, one of the things I am very grateful to him for is that, contrary to conventional educational principles, he allowed me to read comics.  I think that is how I developed my love for English and for reading."

I spoke with three librarians to create a list of books kids will enjoy reading along with ones that are good read aloud books. For those interested in a more in depth list of read aloud books, I suggest reading Jim Trelease's book, Hey! Listen to This: Stories to Read Aloud.

Keep Calm and Read On.

Picture Books
Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting
Click, Clack Moo by Doreen Cronin

Weird, Dare and Tough series by Erin Frankel

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer

It's a Tiger by David LaRochelle
Elmer by David McKee

Purple, Green and Yellow by Robert Munsch

Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff

Book that Eats People by John Perry
The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia Rylant
Skippyjon Jones series by Judith Schachner

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Midnight Farm by Carly Simon

Scaredy Squirrel series by Melanie Watt

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems

The Mud Fairy by Amy Young

Elementary/Middle School

Ivy & Bean series by Annie Barrows

Franny K. Stein series by Jim Benton

Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea

Bailey School Kids series by Debbie Dadey

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

The Familiars series by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson

Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke

My Weird School series by Dan Gutman

Seekers series by Erin Hunter

Ungifted by Gordon Korman

Katie Kazoo series by Nancy Krulik

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Bless this Mouse by Lois Lowry

Stink series by Megan McDonald

Judy Moody series by Megan McDonald
Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery

Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborne

Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park

Clementine series by Sara Pennypacker

Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

The Creature from My Closet series by Obert Skye

The Quirks series by Erin Soderberg

Mary Poppins series by P.L. Travers

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series by Maryrose Wood

Holiday Read-alouds

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett

Dream Snow by Eric Carle

Olivia Helps with Christmas by Ian Falconer

Cat Nights by Jane Manning

The Halloween Kid by Rhode Montijo

Jingle Bells Batman Smells (P.S. So does May) by Barbara Parks

Clementine series by Sarah Pennypacker

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Angel Pig and the Hidden Christmas by Jan L. Waldron

Olive the Other Reindeer by Vivian Walsh

Comics and Graphic Novels

Princess Pink and the Land of Fake Believe series by Noah Z. Jones

Big Nate series by Lincoln Peirce

Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan and Robert Venditti

The Yeti Files by Kevin Sherry

Phoebe and her Unicorn by Dana Simpson

Bone series by Jeff Smith

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson retold by Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin

Desmond Pucket by Mark Tatulli

Star Wars Infinities by Chris Warner