A Family That Reads Together...

Every summer my children (son 14 and daughter 10) and I make summer goals list together.  The list includes things like:

• Run a race (5K)
• Take a family vacation 
• Throw a bbq in our backyard 
• Improve health and fitness
• Improve swimming
• Enjoy a summer concert or two
• Go out of town and visit several family members and friends
• Make homemade jam, kombuchia, almond milk, peach cobbler, etc
• See a new movie once per week

The list typically exceeds the amount of days off. 

This summer I added a new goal.  Group family reading.

Most summers we read together, seperately.  

I would set the timer from 15-30 minutes and we would all grab a both and read.  

But this year I wanted to try something different.

Through reading together, I felt I could do increase the following:

Vocabulary

My children are constantly asking me what a word means.  As a child my parent would say, "Look in a dictionary."  Now I may say "google it" but typically I give the definition and move on.  But together we will build a list of words to look up and learn new words.  And hopefully retain it.

Elocution  (Let's add this to the vocabulary list) the study of how to speak clearly in a way that is effective and socially acceptable  

Reading aloud, even to your sibling and parent may be nerve racking.  With practice and guidance there will be improvements.  Reading also helps you to convey the emotion of the character which help in speaking to be understood.

Family Time:

I now have a teen and pre-teen.  They don't have the same needs as smaller children so I see them less.  Also with so much technology like smartphones and tablets that can keep us entertained for hours with the social media and streaming shows.  I am as bad as my children if not worse with constantly having a device in my hand.  By allotting time to read together, we can all be present with each other.

Patience:

When I use the Overdrive app to listen to free audio-books on my iPhone I crank the speed so fast that it sounds like a chipmunk.  Listening to children read and even adults is a true test in patience.  Honestly, living in New York City, we all need to increase our patience so I will listen intently and encourage my children to do so.

(see  http://exposuremom.blogspot.com/2015/12/free-reading-how-to-read-all-books-you.html on tips to get bestselling books for free -ebooks and audiobooks)

Comprehension:

Sometimes I can watch a whole television show and not know what happened because Instagram was holding my attention.  The same happens when reading, while our minds are distracted we can decode words and then realize we don't know what we've read.

With the three of us together our comprehension will increase.  I can always stop and answer questions the kids have as well as ask questions to make sure we all understand.

Our Summer Reading Has Commenced

So far, we have read together 3 times.  It's going extremely well.  We all, including myself, drag to the living room but once we get into the book we are all enjoying it.

I went to an actually library and found 3 copies of a book called Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon.

I hate to admit it but I go through phases when I read YA, Young Adult, literature like John Green and Rainbow Rowell.  This particular book I read last year and it was really good and it had a twist which I felt my kids would really like.  Not giving away much, the main character is a "bubble girl".  Her impaired immune system keeps her home bound.

 

Fun, fun.  Matbe I will pack a picnic and we can read together in a park.

Maybe I will find a book to ready with hubby.  Hmmmmmm.  

Things that make it seem like I was born in the Stone Ages

My Prince is gone.  Part of my heart is broken.  Prince has been part of my life since birth.  His music has been the soundtrack of my life.

I remember being 7 and my parents allowing us to see Purple Rain after they screened it.  My parents handed the VHS to my sisters and I and said casually, "It's fine, just close your eyes at the nude scenes."
And I did.  I still haven't looked at the sex scene in Purple Rain 30+ years later.

Sharing the lose of Prince with my 10 and 13 year old, makes me reflect on my life and the changes that have been made.  The have been so many advances since the vhs.  I can now stream Purple Rain or my children.

My Iphone has currently replaced my television, cable, vcr, dvd, computer, typewriter, gaming system and most friends (social media).





Here is a list of things that make me feel like I was born during the Flintstone era.




1.Rotary Phone (with no call waiting)


I had to pull up a YouTube video to get my children to visualize the use of such phone. They did not understand how or why we would have to use such mechanics for a simple call.


Kids these days will not know that there was a time when phone book used.  They won't ever remember anyone's phone numbers as they are programmed in their phones.  We used to remember prime phone numbers.  I still remember my childhood house phone number, my long since deceased grandmothers number, and my various aunts phone number.  Back then, numbers in NYC were 7 digits and not 10.  I currently only know a few and sadly they do not include my husbands' nor my childrens' cell phone numbers.

2. Old School Television


Televisions were huge cubes with antenna's.  In the 80's we only had 7 channels to choose from.  2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13. If you had a good antennae you may be able to get channels 25, 31 and some fuzzy extras.

It wasn't unheard of to have a black and white television.  We also had to give up and use the flick of the wrist to change the channels.

3. Heat up food with a stove
I don't know about you but as a small child I remember not having a microwave.  The use of the oven or a frying pan were the ways we reheated food.  It took longer but sometimes it was the better way to regain the original taste.


5. Encyclopedia

Surely I mean wikipedia, nope.  Before google and wikipedia we used a series of alphabetized books to look up information.  A new series of encyclopedia's came out every year.

There were even traveling encyclopedia sales people.

The encyclopedia's that I used all throughout my youth proceeded me as my ambitious father wanted to get the series immediately after the birth of his first child.  Sometimes I would have to go to the library if our home series was to out of date.  What's that?  What is a library?  It's another thing my phone has replaced. And dictionaries.

6. Playing Outside


My kids get chauffeured to things we used to do outside with our friends.  My summers were filled with hanging out on the stoop playing all day.  We jumped rope and we ran.  We played hopscotch, steel the bacon, tag, freeze tag, the list goes on and on.  We cooled off by playing at the johnny pump (fire hydrant).

Now I schedule pay for my kids to move around.  Kids today go to camps all summer.  Parents start planning their kids summers as soon a February.  If children are not at an activity they are on their devices.

7. Kids could buy booze and cigarettes


Yes, seems crazy now but if you had the money the store owners would sell kids anything as long as you said, it was for your mother.

8. Adults smoked around kids
I remember sitting up under my mother and the women of my family as they smoked Newports, their cigarette of choice.  I would sit with them because I was an inquisitive (nosy) child so I wanted to hear what they were talking about.  I was also asthmatic but no one knew at the time that there was a such thing as second hand smoke.

9. No seat-belts, no helmets



I remember fondly being cramped in the back of a family friends station wagon.  Forget no seat-belts there weren't even seats.  I loved every bump of it as we would defy gravity and hit the roof of the car.  Oh the fun.  Lucky we never got into accidents.  We regularly packed our car with cousins and friends on camping or ice skating trips.  No seat-belts.

Today's small kids can ride a bike with a helmet as well as knee and elbow pads.  We were able to throw caution to the wind with the threat of sudden death always looming.  I am happy that there are now helmets.

10. Gluten free, vegan what?

We ate what was served growing up.  My mother always exclaimed she was not a short order cook.  My parents cooked every night.  There was rarely ever take out.  I had one happy meal my childhood(thankfully).  My parents cooked and we ate what they cooked.  That's it.

One night I made 3 baked ziti's and I realized things had changed.

They were all gluten free.
-One included ground turkey and mozzarella cheese for my kids.
-One included ground vegan meat and mozzarella cheese for my vegetarian (at the time) sister. (my son refers to her as the "flip-flop-atarian" as she changes her eating lifestyle at times)
-One included ground vegan meat and vegan cheese for me.  Also note I am allergic to tomatoes and had no business eating ziti.  But I digress.


Things have made advances in many ways.  My kids regularly laugh at things about my childhood.  What can I say, I enjoyed it.