Make reading part of family time

Are your parents worried that you might fall behind academically because of the new home-based education? Sheltering in place does leave young people with huge amounts of time to fill. I believe, however, if your nose is in a book, you are learning.

Books offer multiple ways to fill that time. Here are some fun ideas you can incorporate into your day with your family.

Reading Benefits

The first is to just read. We all love memorable characters and daring plots, but did you know reading improves your mind? According to “The Perfect Brain Food,” by Marc Peyser in the March 2019 Reader’s Digest, “The cheapest, easiest, and most time-tested way to sharpen your brain . . . is called reading.”  He cited that the benefits of reading persisted for five days after finishing the book and that reading also energizes the region of the mind responsible for motor activity because our brain gets a workout when we use our imagination. Poor readers and people with dyslexia reap benefits too because reading rewires the brain in ways that affect “the entire brain, not only the reading-centric temporal cortex.” So, since reading is good for us, the more time we spend reading, the more benefits we will reap from this forced time at home.

Where to Find Books

But what can we do if the library is closed? Look through your family’s collection to find appropriate classics or seek out friends and family for copies of favorite books. My teen daughters have reread favorites and discovered books from my collections. Since our library has been closed due to the pandemic, they have been getting e-books through OverDrive, an option for library patrons to borrow books on Kindle and other such devices. (If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download the free app on your phone.) Their hours of reading make me a tad envious.

Read Aloud as a Family

Listening to books inspires us also. Some of my favorite family times involve books. I started reading novels to my children when my eldest was in first grade, and we read the Little House on the Prairie series. My children extended the time by always asking for “one more chapter.” During home school, I read a novel aloud for half an hour. Sometimes I think we all wished we could just keep reading and forget about the other schoolwork. When we got to exciting parts, we’d continue the story in the evenings. Needless to say, we enjoyed many books.

This was such a powerful investment in our family, I recommend it for yours. Some authors across multiple genres even share “story time” online.

“The cheapest, easiest, and most time-tested way to sharpen your brain . . . is called reading.”

“The Perfect Brain Food,” by Marc Peyser, March 2019, Reader’s Digest

Other Ways to Incorporate Books into Family Time

You can expand your family time by incorporating other activities such as re-enacting a favorite scene, filming it for your enjoyment later. Write your own stories. If someone in your family dislikes writing, let this person give an oral story instead. I have one son who tells the funniest and most imaginative stories as long as he can just recite them. Some kids enjoy illustrating their stories and compiling them in a book. Others will tap them out on the keyboard like professionals. Have everyone join in the fun. Share your stories over a bowl of popcorn.

Since there will be no grading, and people can be as silly as they want, not only will everyone have fun, but new skills will be mastered, new knowledge embraced, and wonderful family memories made.

So, what are you waiting for? Go find a book! Which one will you start with?

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash