Now that it is the summer time, your child is probably going to have a lot more free time on their hands. If you have the chance to stay home to take care of them, that is great! However, as you know, kids need to stay entertained. This may be a lot of work for you, as it is hard to go from having some time to yourself to do other things while your child is at school to having to take care of them for the whole day.
Rather than letting them entertain themselves by plopping in front of the computer or the television, encourage your child to read. Of course there are a lot of things you could do outside or friends who they could visit, but a peaceful and easy way for your child to spend their free time is to read.
Let your child pick out the books that they want to read. Perhaps they will not choose the classics, but at least they will be reading. However, I know that I regret not reading a lot of the “classics”, so maybe if you are looking for your child to read some of those books, you could work out a compromise where they read one classic for every two fun reads. A lot of schools distribute summer reading lists; I would definitely recommend looking into some of those books. These lists tend to have a lot of fun reads as well as some “you probably should read this at some point in your life” type of books.
If your child is not the reading type of child; make it a summer goal of yours to turn that reluctance into enthusiasm. Know what your child is into and what their habits are, and pick up some reading material that has to do with these hobbies. Leave magazines, newspapers, books, catalogs, and other reading materials around the house– they will be sure to pick something up once in a while.
Perhaps most importantly, remember that children learn by watching their environment. Show them that you like to read in your free time, and maybe even schedule reading time during the day so that you can both get a break from reality.
