Challenge: Read ahead of your kids!

Ok, who is up for a challenge? We are at the mid-point in the school year and it can be a great time to make small changes. Have you gotten behind in reading the books you’ve assigned to your children? It’s a much better narration process (and narration evaluation process when kids are older) if you have read the book yourself — not to mention it is easier to come up with narration prompts for those middle and high school ages where they are moving beyond a simple retelling in their own words.

Here’s the idea: Look at your plans. What is the next book you plan to assign each of your children to read? Grab those books now and start reading them yourself. Put a sheet of paper folded in half inside each one as your bookmark. When you sit to read make notes of narration prompts that come to mind, or even just chapter notes for your own reference later.

I’m doing this even though I’m due with baby #10 in 12 days because honestly, I’ll read a lot while snuggling the baby in the early weeks too, so this is doable. You might find an audio book works well for you – anything goes!