Every evening I spend about 20-25 minutes reading books to my children. And every evening the boys surprise me with their growing repertoire of English words. It is their behavior during this time that makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time. The enchanted hour is never as enchanted as I believe it could be.
The Mr. Putter and Tabby series by Cynthia Rylant has been on regular rotation. Jordan, my youngest, took to rolling over his brother right after we read about how Mr. Putter's neighbor's dog rolled in the grass and wrapped himself around trees. Life met art instantaneously.
In fact, the rolling has become a regular thing for Jordan. Aidan just has to read one page from any book before Jordan rolls. And I am pleasantly surprised how patient Aidan is with this annoyance from his brother. He just seems to hold his breath and let Jordan roll on him.
Jordan also likes to place his hands under people shirts and softly touch the skin. I think the skin-to-skin connection reassures him. I am okay with this most of the time, but Aidan is not. When the rolling expands into this touching/tickling/feeling, Aidan gets upset. "Stop! I don't like it!" Jordan, of course, says "Okay!" and then proceeds to touch Mom.
But when I think about it, I know I am going to look back on this time and just be nostalgic for it. I will just remember it as cute!
We also read Bible stories.
Jordan and I are reading the Jesus Calling Bible Storybook. Jordan likes the pictures and the stories are kind of short, which suits Jordan quite well.
Aidan and I are reading the Action Bible. This Bible is more like a graphic novel. Aidan was completely overwhelmed when we started to read it mainly because it is just a really big, thick book. He does tend to focus on the pictures, but I do tend to see his eyes dancing. He wants the characters to move like they would on a video screen!
And here is the problem with the pandemic and COVID. There is just way too much time on screens. I truly believe that they should be able to read both in English and Korean. They truly believe that they should be able to watch their screens whenever they want. Even during the enchanted hour.
What do you do to get your kids to read?
The Mr. Putter and Tabby series by Cynthia Rylant has been on regular rotation. Jordan, my youngest, took to rolling over his brother right after we read about how Mr. Putter's neighbor's dog rolled in the grass and wrapped himself around trees. Life met art instantaneously.
In fact, the rolling has become a regular thing for Jordan. Aidan just has to read one page from any book before Jordan rolls. And I am pleasantly surprised how patient Aidan is with this annoyance from his brother. He just seems to hold his breath and let Jordan roll on him.
Jordan also likes to place his hands under people shirts and softly touch the skin. I think the skin-to-skin connection reassures him. I am okay with this most of the time, but Aidan is not. When the rolling expands into this touching/tickling/feeling, Aidan gets upset. "Stop! I don't like it!" Jordan, of course, says "Okay!" and then proceeds to touch Mom.
But when I think about it, I know I am going to look back on this time and just be nostalgic for it. I will just remember it as cute!
We also read Bible stories.
Jordan and I are reading the Jesus Calling Bible Storybook. Jordan likes the pictures and the stories are kind of short, which suits Jordan quite well.
Aidan and I are reading the Action Bible. This Bible is more like a graphic novel. Aidan was completely overwhelmed when we started to read it mainly because it is just a really big, thick book. He does tend to focus on the pictures, but I do tend to see his eyes dancing. He wants the characters to move like they would on a video screen!
And here is the problem with the pandemic and COVID. There is just way too much time on screens. I truly believe that they should be able to read both in English and Korean. They truly believe that they should be able to watch their screens whenever they want. Even during the enchanted hour.
What do you do to get your kids to read?
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