Mommy....will you please read to me?

It's my turn now. I have a head cold. All day I have felt achy and kept the box of Kleenex close by. My little guy seems to be feeling a little better.

All week I have wanted to write a post for this. Some of my favorite words are "Mommy...will you please read to me?" My older three kids are very independent readers. I remember when my oldest daughter was a toddler lying on my bed with a stack of books reading together for what seemed liked hours. We read many of the Golden Books over and over that by the time she was three she had most of them completely memorized. She is now fifteen years old and I still find her most nights with the light in her room peeking into the hallway as she is curled up in her bed with a book.
Her goal over the next month is to finish reading For Young Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn. and Passion and Purity by Elizabeth Elliot. She is also reading this book for a school project.
My eleven year old daughter is currently reading Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. I would like to see her finish the book in the next month. A couple nights a week we will lay down on her bed and she will read to me.
My ten year old son has always enjoyed reading. He is thoroughly enjoying these books at school and his goal is to finish Pilgrim's Progress by Paul Bunyan at home.
When each of my children have been in Kindergarten I have taken the school year and read all of the classics in the curriculum Five in a Row. I homeschooled my two girls in Kindergarten and used this as part of our curriculum.
My six year old son, who is in Kindergarten this year has been enjoying our journey through these wonderful classics. We read one book for five days in a row. Over the next four weeks I hope to read these favorites with him. The Story about Ping, Make Way for Ducklings, A New Coat for Anna, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, and Katy and the Big Snow . Over the years I have collected many of these classics for my own library of children's literature.

I try and spend fifteen minutes everyday reading board books with my two year old. I have noticed he is slowly sitting for longer periods of times. I also have a Before Five in a Row curriculum which has classics for younger children. I am going to read Caps for Sale over the next several weeks in addition to the board books about God, animals, and shapes. Each day I will read as much of the book as he will sit for. I have noticed that these books are so well written that my kids want to stay and hear the whole story. Another favorite classic that I read to him at nap time is Goodnight Moon. This has been a favorite for all.

These are my goals for each of my individual children in addition to their Bible reading using the youth and children's Life Journal.

Now, for our family read aloud. My husband reads to the kids one or two nights during the week. He will have devotions right before dinner with the kids and than immediately after dinner they will gather together with pillows spread out over the floor and he will read to them. He is currently in the middle of reading Mystery of the Island Jungle by Lee Roddy. This was an old book we have had on our shelf for many years. It is an adventurous book in which a young boy learns important truths about depending on God and facing tough times instead of running from them. Their goal is to finish the book over the next four weeks.

Thank you Jennifer for hosting this. Writing my goals down will help me to stick with our plan. For more great ideas in reading to your children go to Snapshot.