Our first-ever school librarian shares practical tips for Elementary families, from ten-minute bedtime routines to letting your child pick the book. This term we welcomed Boluwatife Agbelusi, Northview’s first school librarian. It’s a first for us, and it means our library now has someone whose whole job is getting books into children’s hands and helping them love what’s inside.
For International Literacy Day this month, Boluwatife put together a few habits families can start this week. None of them need a trip to the bookshop.
- Keep it short and regular. Ten minutes at bedtime every night does more than an hour on a Saturday, because routine is what turns reading into a habit rather than a chore.
- Let them choose. A comic, a joke book or the same dinosaur story for the fifth time all count. Children who pick their own books read more, because they already care about what’s on the page.
- Keep reading aloud, even to confident readers. Children can follow stories well above the level they can read alone, so listening builds vocabulary they’ll use later.
- Talk, don’t test. “What do you think happens next?” keeps it fun. “What did the character do?” makes it homework.
- Let them see you read. Kids copy what we do far more than what we say.
“Reading at home doesn’t need to be a big production,” says Boluwatife. “The families who see the most progress usually keep it small, keep it daily and let their child lead.”
You can watch Boluwatife’s International Literacy Day video on our Instagram for more of her ideas.