Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Seriously, Read to Your Kids

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g240/lizcoolmompicks/where_the_sidewalk_ends.jpg

This week I've had two magical moments with my kiddos. They were just absolutely perfect moments of teaching. My first moment was yesterday when I read a couple of poems (Pancakes, Boxes, Hector the Collector, and Long Hair Boy) from Where the Sidewalk Ends. My second moment was today when I read some classic fairy tales at the end of the day.

When I'm left alone with my kiddos, they usually test my patience a bit. It takes them quite a while to settle and be ready to listen. After I got them settled, I started to read. It was absolutely quiet. I had a total captive audience. What's better than having a captive audience? Having a captive audience who actually enjoys what you're reading to them. Then, they have a million things that they want to say afterwards about why they liked the poem or what the poem reminded them of.

What's the lesson did I learn?

Well, my kiddos seriously have anything they want. They have brought in IPods, cell phones, DVDs, video games, etc to sharing. What do they really need? Someone to read to them and share that time with them. There is just something wonderful about having someone read to you. I described it to my mom as someone taking you to your imaginary world and then going with you.

2 comments:

evawing said...

Waaah! "Where the Sidewalk Ends" !!! I adored that book growing up.

Tiffany L said...

My dad is a teacher. I was in his class from 1st - 3rd grade and he used to read "Where the Sidewalk Ends" to us...along with many other books. Your blog took me back to those precious moments. :-) Thank you.