Growing up, I was surrounded by books. Both my mother and father were avid readers. I followed their lead and too became a lover of books. Every summer my parents would turn the television around and there was no viewing of it for our entire summer break. During this time, my brother and I would joined the Book Reading Challenge at the local library. We always won the challenge in our age group .We loved to read!
When I became a mother, I knew my child would also have a love for books. I started when she was a baby and read to her single everyday. At this age, it is also a great bonding activity. As Sage got older, I continued to read to her. Sometimes we would read several books before bed. I really enjoyed story time at this age. With Sage’s growing love for books came the need for more books. So our trips to the library became more frequent. It seemed almost overnight that Sage began to read on her own. By the time she entered Pre-K she was reading, when most of her classmates didn’t even know their alphabet. I continued to encourage reading by providing books of her own. Books can be expensive, so we would go to the thrift store and pick out tons of books that were most of the time less than a dollar. This definitely made it more affordable for us to build Sage’s personal library.
Currently, Sage is in 1st grade and reading on a 5th grade level! She is the only chapter book reader in her class. Being that she is an advanced reader, she also excels in all of her other subjects. She reads whenever she can. Sometimes she starts reading a book before we can get to the check out to pay for it! I am very proud of her!
Remember, your child’s educational success start with you. Don’t wait for the teachers to teach your child the to read. It starts at home!
Tips on raising a bookworm!
1. Be a bookworm yourself. If your child see you reading, they will most likely follow your lead.
2. Read to your child everyday. The early years are especially key.
3. Turn the TV off! Pick up a book!
4. Build a library for your child with their own books. The thrift store is the perfect place to start. Buy books that interest your child.
5. Take advantage of free educational programs at your local library.
Shana Was Here 
Love your post! I am trying to raise my own bookworm as we speak! So much fun!
Yes indeed! It’s an awesome time!
I love that your parents would turn the TV around! That an awesome dedication to parenting. These are great tips and I am definitely going to work on applying them to my kiddos.
I wrote a post about keeping the TV off, you might be interested 🙂
http://theglazebrigade.com/6-tips-to-help-parents-keep-the-t-v-off/
Thanks for the kind words! I’m going to check out your post now!
I love this! As a child I loved reading (well I still do), and I was always participating in events at my library. Now as an adult I actually live right across the street from a library, LOL.
That’s great! I love going to the library! It’s peaceful there. I always seem to lose tract of time when I’m reading.
This is a awesome post. I read it out loud to my baby as I do with all the blogs I read in the mornings. She only 3 months old but already a bookworm too. She loves to listen while her dad and I read to her, you’re right, it’s awesome bonding time!
That’s awesome!
I have been a bookworm my whole life, and probably read 3-4 books a month. You will usually find a book in my hand, lol. I think I’ve finally found a bookworm in my youngest daughter. My older two kids could not care less. I’ve read to them their whole lives, we hang out in the library, but it’s rare they are interested in a book. It just kills me.
I am a Reading Specialist, and this is great advice for raising a reader. I wish every parent would do these things!
Great tips! I’m not a parent yet, but I have always adored curling up with a book and was always reading ahead of my age group at school. I hate how so many kids aren’t interested in books anymore, I just drink them up still – I always have a book on the go and I hope one day I can share that with a child of mine!
Awesome! Your future child will thank you for that!
Great tips!! My little guy adores books. We read no less than 4 each night! I think I have the Lego books memorized. 🙂
That’s great to hear! I’ve memorized a lot of books too! Lol!
I love this!!! I am determined to raise a reader myself! Thanks for the tips!!!
Great job Shana,mom.
Thanks Mom! 😘
Great advice, my daughter is learning to read right now and I hope she has a hunger for books!
Great post! I’m a volunteer reader with United Way and I leaned so much on how the words they learn when they are younger have a big impact later!
I was definitely a book worm when I was little. I still am, I hope that one day both my kids would be too. Thanks for the tips I’ll definitely use them with both my kids.
Lovely post! My daughter was born a bookworm, and as a baby, reading to her was the only way to calm her down! We have a ‘little free library’ at the bottom of the street and one of her favourite things to do is go see what new books they have so she can swap out her old ones (she is 2). My son….he is more like his dad – I am thinking comic books may have to make an appearance in our house to get him interested once he reaches the stage where he won’t rip them!
Love this! I was always a bookworm growing up, just like you! I can remember leaping out of the car and racing my brother into the library to get new books. I love your tips on how to raise a bookworm… hopefully one day my kids will be bookworms to!
I love this! I was always a huge reader and try to inspire that in my 2 year old as well!
I love the post. I am a real bookworm so I hope my daughter will have the same love for books that I have.
These are all really great tips! I used to read a lot up until I went to college. Textbooks took priority and now I’m wanting to get back into the habit of picking up a book everyday.
My parents were readers and passed it along to us. I think you are on to something with the modeling behavior thing 🙂
So true! We (my twin sister and I) were raised to be bookworms. We still love to read! It is truly a gift. ~ Cheyenne
What a gift! So exciting that your daughter is such an advanced reader! These are great tips and I love your parents’ strategy of just turning the tv around for summer break. Thinking I might steal that idea… Thanks! 🙂