This post is part of the PTA Family Reading Challenge Blog Party Challenge series. View the full post on “The Deliberate Reader”.
My children are young enough that they’re still very much at an age where almost everything is a learning activity, so our summer plans are mostly of a “more of the same!” nature.
This is our first year where we’re really doing the library summer reading program. Last year I was too pregnant to want to hassle with it. And yes, it seemed like a hassle. This year it’s fun, and the kids love going to the library and picking out their own books. Lately it seems like most of the books I check out are for them.
Beyond their picks, I also choose books for them –there are so many great books I’m thrilled to read with them and introduce them to some of my favorite characters from when I was a child. (Coming up next: The Mouse and the Motorcycle
I’m also working off of a giant list I’ve compiled over the years of hundreds of potential titles to read to them and with them. More than enough books for our family reading time!
(Anyone interested in me sharing that list? I’ve been debating sharing it here, but that’s a lot of typing and reformatting if no one cares.)
With all summer birthdays here, it also gives us a chance to get new games and activities as birthday gifts. My daughter just got a couple of books from us, and my son is getting books as well. Earlier this week I asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he actually requested books – books for him to read and me to read to him. Talk about the way to his mom’s heart – he just guaranteed himself a big stack of new reading material. 
I’ve said before that I think developing a love of reading is my biggest focus at this age, and I believe that the best thing I can do for them is to read aloud, provide access to books, and help them develop reading routines. That’s my focus this summer as we work around all the other activities we have these months.
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