{"id":868,"date":"2005-04-29T18:31:13","date_gmt":"2005-04-30T02:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/2005\/04\/29\/read-to-your-children\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T16:23:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T00:23:29","slug":"read-to-your-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/2005\/04\/29\/read-to-your-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Read To (Your) Children"},"content":{"rendered":"

When my students had to take the mid-term tests for my program, I promised them a reward if they all focused and finished within one week. They did, and I made good on my vow. I gave them each a copy of a classic children’s book.<\/p>\n

Book ownership is a significant component of cultivating the habit of reading. Having one’s own books, to pick up anytime and delve into, creates a sense of investment. This can encourage the attitude of curiosity that prompts one to look between the covers. My students don’t own many books.<\/p>\n

Another aspect of helping children love reading is to read to<\/em> them. Again, this is something many children don’t experience. The book I gave them is The Phantom Tollbooth<\/a>. They were somewhat in awe when I gave each a copy. A few days later, one student told me, “You know, I thought this book would be boring, but it isn’t<\/em>!” <\/p>\n

As a reward for excellent behavior at the end of program yesterday, I offered to read aloud. I read the first chapter and, when done, asked if they’d liked being read to. They all nodded vigorously. One student said, “You read fast, Teacher.” I asked if that was bad, and he replied that it was good, that other teachers read too slow and in a boring voice. Another boy declared with enthusiasm, “Teacher, I didn’t like it. I LOVED IT!” So I promised to read them a chapter a day, 20 in all, as long as they also read it on their own. It’s such a fun story to read aloud! I wish I could read to children more often.<\/p>\n

If you have children in your life — your own, nieces, nephews, cousins, your friends’ kids — consider buying them a book for their next birthday. Or just because; reading doesn’t have to be a special occasion. And read them a story, or a book about a subject they like, when you next have time for a shared activity. You’ll have their rapt attention, and you’ll probably enjoy yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When my students had to take the mid-term tests for my program, I promised them a reward if they all focused and finished within one week. They did, and I made good on my vow. I gave them each a copy of a classic children’s book. Book ownership is a significant component of cultivating the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-humanities"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10829,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868\/revisions\/10829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathrynpetroharper.com\/mindfullife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}