I've never taught a child to read.
I was trained in literacy instruction but only ever applied it to teaching adults. I had the incredible privilege of seeing the world of a man in his seventies expand as we practiced sight words together. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my Mother asked me what I was most looking forward to about having children, and I answered, "reading to them".
I love the library for so many reasons.
The fresh enthusiasm of others reading books to my children, the book choices of the story time librarians and walking into a room filled with thousands of adventures and illustrations thrills me. I am inspired by the creativity of the crafts that sometimes accompany the theme and am grateful to not have to produce the ideas and materials on my own.
What we've done so far:
At their youngest, the only books we were able to interest our children in were those with textures. It is now my favorite baby shower gift to give because even tiny newborn fingers can be guided over soft or scratchy squares to begin to cultivate a life long sense that books are something of interest.
Our son became too busy unless they were on one of his favorite topics. So we started bringing home books about trains, cars, motorcycles and trucks to encourage him to attend. He is also motivated by the opportunity to snuggle next to his Dada while being read a story.
As a pre-reader Sophia is also sometimes motivated by "reading" to her brother. And since he can't read either, he happily listens while she makes up a story about the pictures.
What we don't feel guilty about:
Because I love to read, I still try to find time to do it amidst life with a preschooler and a toddler. So, I will sit down and read an article while Sophia "reads" (looks at each page and tells herself the story). We each read what interests us, often while also snuggling together under a blanket.
During long car trips after her brother has fallen asleep, we also give Sophia audio tapes. During that time we enjoy finishing our sentences and hearing her suddenly laugh in the back seat at something that happened in her story.
What we've needed to change:
We had to cap the number of books Sophia can bring home from the library by what could fit in one bag, but she has the freedom to make selections from the children's section without censorship.
This has led to conversations about hard topics like divorce when she chose to bring home the book, "Monday, Wednesday, Friday and every other Weekend".
While we don't veto books, we have set a one book for each character limit. She can get a Calliou, and Dora and Arthur book, but not fifteen of any of them. I'm willing to read "Calliou's Thanksgiving" in July, but not twenty Calliou books in a given week.
Finally, children's literature has an understandable amount of goofiness. While we still bring plenty of that home, I have also encouraged the perusal of the non-fiction section. While she is learning obscure facts about worms, so am I.
