I have loved seeing families’ bucket lists on Facebook! They make me wish that bucket lists were popular when my kids were little!

(Well, I guess we made our own Bucket List with our Summer School Goals—oh, my kids loved those!)

And I love having fun as a family…I mean, honestly, we were a FUN family. And we still go to Disney World as a family every five years!!! (Thanks to Plexus, we are moving that up to every three years!)

But for this post, I would like to propose a different bucket list than the traditional, fun, memory-making bucket list. It is the Summer Family Bucket List to Grow.

The Summer Family Bucket List to Grow

What do I mean by list to grow? I mean a purposeful list (in addition to your fun one—don’t do away with that one!) of things you will do this summer to help your family grow spiritually, morally, in character, in unity, and in benevolence.

A list of things you will do that will cause your children individually and your family as a whole to learn more about God, to grow closer to each other. To serve and help. Well…to grow!

I have included a fun printable meme (click here) that you can use as a reminder (put it on your fridge beside your fun bucket list)….but just like any goals, I want to encourage you to be specific.

You can print off that meme and highlight the things you intend to (I mean, would like to) do (since abstract lists do not usually happen!).

But take your Summer Family Bucket List to Grow one step further—and make those things happen!

If you have heard us talk about goal setting for your family, you know that we encourage you to make your goals like this:

1. List an outcome you want

2. Determine an action that will help you achieve that

3. Put the action into the schedule or routine

(For examples of these steps for summer goals, see the post here.)

In other words, don’t just let the pretty printable be it! Get proactive. Make an exact action and a time to complete that action. This will ensure that you get to some of your “growing” bucket list items!

I pray your summer is rewarding, growing, and fun! Blessings to you and your family!

What “growing” things are on your family’s list this summer? Share some to inspire others!

Links:

Homeschooling Mamas Earning Money From Home (Join my Team!)

[Series] 52 Weeks of Talking to Our Kids

[Podcast] 30 Tips from 30 Years of Homeschooling

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“I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.” ~Anna Quindlen, “Enough Bookshelves”

During my graduate studies (in Reading Specialist) at Ball State University, I did a master’s thesis about children who learn to read without any reading instruction. That is, the kids just suddenly started reading books without ever having phonics lessons, basal readers, or other “formal instruction.” It was a challenging thesis simply because there is so little data about it because of our “early school attendance age.” Seldom does a child learn to read “naturally” before age six or seven, and with kids going to school at age five (and often beginning reading instruction in kindergarten), the research was sparse concerning these “instruction-less” readers.

I did find enough, however, and I was also blessed to find a family who had a natural reader to compare the printed data with. My observations, coupled with the studies in teaching journals, etc., led me to find what I called the “environment” in which natural readers are raised. This led me to other lines of thinking—if a child can learn to read with absolutely no instruction in a literary-saturated environment, wouldn’t this environment be conducive to helping those who DO receive instruction learn to read better, more easily, and more naturally?

The answer, of course, was yes. Study after study shows the type of environment that causes kids to learn better. Duplicating the “natural reader’s” environment can only help our kids learn better. Maybe our creating this “literary atmosphere” will not automatically make our six year old pick up a book and begin reading, but if it makes the learning process (actually any/all learning processes) easier, more enjoyable, and less stressful, why wouldn’t we want to duplicate it in our homes for all of our kids?

So what were the commonalities I found in studying the environment of “natural readers”?

Common Characteristics of Natural Readers

1. Interaction with adults—these kids were with adults a lot—and definitely not around peers more than adults. They had adults on hand to discuss things with, to answer their questions, and to provide examples of proper speech patterns, etc.

2. Much book handling by the child—these children were surrounded with books that they were permitted to interact with. They were often found at very young ages with stacks of books around them, just looking at the pictures, making stories in their minds from the pictures, etc.

3. Print abounds and interest in print is evident by itself—not only did the homes of natural readers contain books themselves, but they also contained all type of print. The parents of these children read magazines, journals, newspapers, etc. I think the “interest in print” part probably began with something like a parent saying, “Honey, look at this whale they found beached on the coast of Florida,” as he or she brought the little one up on to her lap to see the picture that was provided with the article in today’s newspaper, etc. This type of activity causes a child to become interested in print.

4. Audios and books are used—This is the reason why I began using book and tape sets a few times a week for my preschoolers and elementary children—and why we have used audios (talking books, radio dramas, etc.) every week of our lives since our oldest was one year old. Audios and books show our children the benefits and “fun” that reading provides.

5. Memorization takes place—these natural readers often followed a certain pattern—they memorized a picture book (usually many), then through the memorization, they began making print-sound-word connections. That is, when they turned the page and recited, “If you give a mouse a cookie,” they began to understand that i-f says if and y-o-u says you. Natural readers were experts at memorizing large portions of text.

6. Interest in writing words and “language experience” activities—many years ago, there was a movement in education to replace phonics instruction with “language experience” activities (also called a “whole language approach”). Phonics proponents everywhere were up in arms at the thought of “activities” of writing what the child said (dictation) for him, making little homemade books, etc. taking the place of phonics instruction. While I am a strong phonics proponent, I believe that these “language experiences” and “whole language” activities augment reading instruction greatly. And, of course, the natural readers in the research were exposed to these types of activities early and often. These kids were the ones who dictated thank-you notes to Mom to go to grandparents and colored a picture to send along with it; they were the ones who had a chalk board in the kitchen in which Mom or Dad wrote the day of the week each morning; they were those who “said” stories aloud and parents copied it in little “journal” books for the child. And on and on. Why wouldn’t these types of experiences and activities increase a child’s relationship with print and love for learning?

7. Experiences related to literacy and books—these obviously include the types of activities listed in number six, but these kids knew from birth that books and reading were important. They were the ones in a double stroller at the library lawn sale as toddlers—child in front seat with back seat full of picture books. They were the ones who had their own “book basket” in the corner of the nursery almost from birth. In other words, they were immersed in literacy and books from an early age.

8. Self-regulated behavior and risk taking—This characteristic related to how they “organize” their little lives. These kids would pull all of the Curious George books off the shelf and stack them up to look at after lunch. They often had little learning systems in place at ages four and five. And they were not afraid to be wrong. This, of course, stems from not being talked down to or made fun of when they did ask questions. These kids were risk takers because taking risks in learning (“Mommy, is this word (dapper) ‘Daddy’?”) yielded information that helped them in their quest to learn. The questions did not yield put downs or “you should already know this.”

9. Read to often—Obviously, a link has to be made from the squiggles on the page to the sounds that those squiggles make in order for a young child to teach himself to read. Thus, a child must be read to (or follow along with books and tapes) in order to learn to read without formal instruction. Now, this is not to say that a child who is read to will automatically learn to read early and on his own. I read aloud to our first three kids three to five hours everyday for years and years—and not one of the three was a natural, or early, reader! But it certainly created a love for print and learning in my children!

Children who learn to read naturally, without reading instruction, are raised in an environment that is conducive to learning to read naturally—an environment that creates a love for learning and a very perceived need to learn.

While I have never had a natural reader myself, I tried all throughout my children’s learning days to create this type of environment. It has created outstanding learners and avid readers in the Reish home.

One of the “rules” that Ray and I had for our children’s early education was that if something could be taught informally (and painlessly), we would teach it that way (as opposed to using workbooks or “curriculum” for something that can just as easily be learned while driving down the road or snuggling on the sofa).

That is one thing that I truly loved about the “natural reader learning environment.” Why get a workbook to teach capital letters when you can teach them while you are running errands (from all of the store signs)? Why get a program for rhyming words when nursery rhymes, silly songs, and I spy games on the road can do the job without the stress? The “natural reader learning environment” fit how we thought young children should be taught—regardless of whether our kids truly became natural readers or not.

Here are just a few of the skills that the research on natural readers indicated are learned/enjoyed by kids in this environment:

1. Contact with print

2. Thinking skills

3. Comprehension (especially when a wide variety of materials is presented and discussion follows)

4. Expanded vocabulary

5. Enunciation and pronunciation

6. Love of and need for reading

7. Sentence patterns

8. Relationship between parent and child—the most important one of all, of course!

Create a “natural reader learning environment” in your home—regardless of your kids’ ages….and watch the interaction with print increase; the love for learning grow; and the positive relationships bloom.

Whether you have a five year old who taught herself to read or an eight year old still struggling with primers, I encourage you to create a reading environment–and build life-long readers and learners! Blessings on your teaching and children!

The post Back to School Tip III of XII: Create Reading Environment appeared first on Character Ink.

Summer schedules. Those two words do not seem to go together to most kids (and even many parents!). And yet, I want to propose a plan whereby summer can still be somewhat carefree. (After all, that’s what most people love about summer.) Yet, our children can all still be engaged in learning, developing disciplines for their lives, building relationships and memories, and more.

We are night owls here at the Reish family, so I’m not here to put a guilt trip on people who stay up late—and tell them that their entire family should be up at six in the morning year round. For years and years, I fought my and Ray’s tendencies to function better at night. However, we are not ones to pull out isolated Scriptures and make them rules for our lives. The idea that “early I will find thee,” is definitely in the Bible. Then again, so is the fact that God is found in the night watches and “late at night on my pillow I sought thee.” Truly, God can be found late at night AND early in the morning! Thus, saying that one sleep cycle is more righteous than another simply isn’t true.

I’m not advocating a time table in which everybody should be on in order to raise our children for God! I am here advocating patterns and constances that make us successful.

For us, this has meant that for nearly our entire thirty-two years of homeschooling (until we had one in high school only, and he worked and took college classes), we have followed the same PATTERN/schedule year round for our kids upon rising. We got up in the morning and do morning routines, chores, and devotions, regardless of whether it was July or January. Then we usually read aloud together. Then we did whatever was on the agenda—school, work, projects, play together, have free time (especially smaller kids in the summer), etc.

We did this because regardless of whether a person is fifty or five, there are things that we just need to do all the time. These patterns have helped our children grow up with extremely strong self discipline. Our adult kids, at ages seventeen through thirty-three get more done in a day than most adults I know. And they still, as adults, read, grow, learn, and give to others on a daily basis.

How can you apply this principle to your summer? What do you want your kids’ summer to look like? Staying up until three and sleeping until noon? Then hanging out with friends until bed again? Or do you want to help them learn some skills? Spend some quality time with them? Have them read a little? You can determine the kind of summer you and your children have.

What if you had an earlier bedtime (ours is midnight for our teens—they don’t require much sleep!) and had them get up, do a few chores, read with you, and start your day together?

What if you had a chapter-book-a week plan for their reading this summer? What if you taught each child a new recipe or a new cleaning skill? Summer can be fun and profitable!

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It is so hard to believe that May is here! With so many winding down their school year and the busyness of summer upon us, we are going to make a couple of changes at Raising Kids With Character and Character Ink Press blog for a couple of months.

During May, June, and July, we will just have two Wondering Wednesdays (first and third Wednesdays) and two Freebie Fridays (second and fourth Fridays) as far as new podcasts, videos, and free products. We will resume weekly Wondering Wednesdays and weekly Freebie Fridays in August to help everybody get started back up in the fall.

So….don’t go away…we’ll still be here. We just know that with vacations, summer sports, Bible school, and more, people don’t have as much time to listen/watch—and oftentimes school gets put on the back burner.

Stay tuned as we continue our 52 Weeks of Talking to Your Kids; add more Meaningful Composition books; reveal our new Write On books in June (Write On, Peter Pan!); and much more!

Love and hope,
Donna

The post Summer Podcast & Freebie Schedule appeared first on Character Ink.

Click here to download the printable handout.

Subscribe to our Wondering Wednesday podcasts in iTunes

Resources mentioned in this podcast (affiliate links):

Phonetically-Controlled Readers

Vocabulary-Controlled Readers

Comprehensive Curriculum

The post Wondering Wednesday: Summer Reading Help for Young Students appeared first on Character Ink.

https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-186-links-for-charts-for-reading.html

The post Re-run: Old Post With Links for Charts for Reading, Chores, Morning Routines, etc. appeared first on Character Ink.

Anyway, I first want to give you a link to a freebie offered by Graham Family Ministries to help you in creating summer goals/summer fun lists/charts for your kids. It is simple to go into the document and make it whatever fits your needs—reading goals, fun activities goals, summer school workbook goals, household goals—use it in whatever way helps you!

Editable Summer Time Chart: https://www.school4jesus.com/summertime-fun-chart-freebie

Then I will leave you with a short list of the literally hundreds of goals that we had for our Summer School Goals through the years…so many good memories. So grateful for the wonderful years I have had with my kids!!!
Note: Each goal had a certain number of boxes with it—and each time that goal was done one time, a box was filled in with a sticker. The kids could choose each day what to work on—but to help them see the big picture, I had how many hours total each goal would take to complete it the number of times allotted—and how many total “sessions” each one would take (i.e. if child was supposed to read ten 20 chapter chapter books, that would be 100 goals of 2 chapters at a time, etc.).

1. Read a chapter (or two) out of a chapter book.

2. Read a Bob Book aloud to brother or sister.

3. Cook a new recipe from scratch.

4. Organize one shelf of the living room bookcase.

5. Trip to the library.

6. 15 mins jumping on the tramp.

7. 10 laps of swimming at the pool.

8. 2 pages in summer skills book

9. 30 mins of craft activity

10. Organize a closet with Mom for 30 minutes.

11. Weed garden for 20 mins.

12. 1 Geosafar card at 90% accuracy.

13. 2 math drill pages

14. 1 game of chess with Dad

15. Reading Bible aloud to Mom—1 chapter each

16. Read a picture book to a little

17. Listen to talking book for 30 mins

18. Color one page in educational coloring book

19. 60 mins of sewing outfits for American Girl Dolls

20. 60 mins of Lego play

P.S. Technically, this blog post could have fallen much later in the year under Responsibility or Diligence or Industriousness or Organization–these types of activities have helped my kids learn so many valuable character qualities and skills!

The post Summertime Fun and Summertime Goals! Part II of II appeared first on Character Ink.

The post Summertime Fun or Summertime Goals? How About Both? I of II appeared first on Character Ink.

Readability levels—I of IV: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-176-summertime-beginning-reading.html

Reading with your “already-reading” child to build fluency and keep skills fresh: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-188-summertimereading-with-your.html

“What” to read with your child this summer: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-189-summertimewhat-to-read-with.html

 

The post And the final summer reading help! appeared first on Character Ink.

Choosing graded readers—IMPORTANT points to consider: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-170-summertimebeginning-reading.html

Starting with the first readers—The Bob Books— https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-171-summertime-beginning-reading.html

After “Bob”—the next readers we recommend: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-172-summertime-beginning-reading.html

Moving along with readers: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-173-summertime-beginning-reading.html

Tomorrow—links for readability levels to help you help your non-beginners choose books at their level this summer!

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