“Reading is important, because if you can read, you can learn anything about everything and 
everything about anything.”
- Tomie DePaola
As a child grows in stature so should their knowledge and understanding of the world. One way this is accomplished is by nurturing your child’s reading ability. While reading skills are taught and reinforced in the classroom, we also encourage reading at home – as an activity that can be enjoyed between parent and child. One way we encourage extracurricular reading is through book clubs!
From October to February, 40 third, fourth and fifth grade students in the Mock Newbery book club read one book per month and vote on their favorite, similar to the Newbery Award Committee. Each student receives a copy of the five books they will read, and they meet regularly to discuss their thoughts on the current book. Meetings also include themed snacks that accompany the discussion.
“Book clubs are a great way to expose kids to books they might not normally pick up,” said Catherine Denman, librarian and technology integrationist at St. George’s Memphis campus. “Not only do they help to foster a lifelong love of reading by engaging students with discussion and activities, but they also give students opportunities to practice building bridges as they consider others’ perspectives on the same book.”
The Mock Newbery is not the only book club at St. George’s campuses. “We have summer reading book clubs, Mother Daughter Book Club and a Guys Read Book Club,” Denman said. “This past school year, we had a March Family Book Club where families of pre-kindergarteners through fifth graders read The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary and interacted with us through email and social media to discuss the book.”
Countless studies have been conducted on the value of reading to or with your child. Students who read at least 20 minutes per day often academically surpass their counterparts. Reading exposes children to new vocabulary, can expand comprehension abilities, strengthen visual imagery skills and increase attention spans.
Are you interested in encouraging reading in your household? Beyond joining a book club, Catherine Denman offered a few tips and recommendations to make reading an integral part of your family routine:
- If your child is not yet five, sign up for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library – your child will receive one free, age-appropriate book in the mail each month.
- Subscribe to a children's magazine like Highlights, National Geographic Kids, Chickadee, Cobblestone or Sports Illustrated Kids.
- Make reading a part of your daily routine – like reading every night before bed.
- Put books in a basket on the floor or on the bottom shelves of their bookcase so that your child can easily access them.
- Listen to audiobooks in the car. If your child can read, have him or her follow along while the audio is playing.
- Take books with you to places where you know you will have to wait – the doctor's office, a restaurant or in the car.
- Let your child see you reading – modeling behavior is impactful!
- Talk with the librarian at your child's school or your local public library to find engaging books about the things in which your child is interested.
- Allow your child to read the books they want – don't worry about reading levels, length, fiction vs. nonfiction, or graphic novels. Let them re-read their favorite books again and again. All reading is good reading!
- For children who are reading, mix up your routine! Trade off reading chapters to each other or set a goal to each read a certain number of chapters per week. Then have a mini family book club one night to discuss what you’ve read.
- Get library cards for your local public library and go regularly.
- Attend events at local bookstores and libraries featuring authors and illustrators of children's books.