Reading Time

My two oldest kids are supposed to read for twenty minutes each day. And I would love to have all my kids read or be read to for that long every day. The logistics of this get pretty tricky sometimes (especially when the baby is fussy but that is a topic for some other time.) All three of my oldest kids read above their grade level, but none of them are bookworms. It takes quite a lot to get them to sit down and read. Michael loves to be read to but hates reading to himself. So most of his reading happens as we trade off pages -- he'll read a page and then I'll read one. Katherine reads to herself, but reading in her room is a punishment because she hates being alone. Her ideal reading environment is on the sofa in the middle of all of the action, but she just doesn't like there to be any noise. Sarah loves for me to read her the "Chapter Fairy" books that she got for Christmas, and Matthew is rather particular about which picture books he'll sit through -- but he doesn't like to be left out. There are solutions given all of these restraints -- my favorite is when Sarah will read to Matthew through the morning. They both seem to love it and then I feel like they are both taken care of without me! Other times it can be quite the nightmare. Well, one night it was almost heaven on earth. Just look at the pictures! We paired up and everyone got their needs met and was happy. Unfortunately the stars only aligned for one night -- so far (see I'm an optimist).