Want to prioritize literacy at home? Reading family night could be for you!
Family Time
Teachers, psychiatrists, and other professionals often extol the virtues of family time. As a mom myself, I can tell you that I treasure our time spent together. We do storytimes as a family at bedtime and we spend time outdoors together (2023 is our first year to join in the 1,000 Hours Outside challenge!). We also prioritize the family dinner (check out Kids Cook Monday for more resources for family dinners).
But did you know that science also supports family time? This article compiles eight different things to do as a family that also have scientific studies attached to them.
Why a Reading Family Night?
Reading together as a family has great impact. According to a 2020 scientific study published in Developmental Psychology, a journal, their study’s “findings suggest that early parent-child book reading can have positive collateral impacts on parents’ stress and the parent-child relationship over time.” Less stressed parents and an improved relationship? Yes, please.
Reading also encourages deep conversations, and a reading family night will encourage those conversations among the members of your family.
Reading Family Night: Improving Academics?
When you’re reading to your child, you’re modeling fluency, inflection, and even processing skills. As teachers, we do this and call it a think-aloud. It allows us to demonstrate good reading practices. Reading aloud as a family also demonstrates this practice.
It’s also really beneficial for parents to hear their child read (fluency) and to ask their child comprehension questions. This puts you on equal footing with the English Language Arts & Reading (ELAR) teacher. You’re able to see concerns and address them at the same time.
Plus, it’s fun and full of memory-making potential!
Resources for Reading Family Night
Scholastic: 9 Creative Ways to Read as a Family
The Unexpected Homeschooler: Family Read Alouds
The Read-Aloud Revival: The Read-Aloud Family (book)
I’ll be running really fun book studies in the summer of 2023 and I cannot wait! In the meantime, if you’re wondering about my tutoring services, make sure to check out this page!
What’s on your family reading list?
