This post is sponsored by Kindercare, a preschool I’ve been very impressed with. Thank you for supporting this blog!
Getting a high-quality education was one of the main reasons why my parents immigrated here from Korea when I was 2 years old. My dad came to get a Ph.D for himself and so that his children can receive a better education. So getting good grades and a good education was always instilled in our family.
When I became a mom, I knew I wanted to instill that same importance to them as well and one of the best ways I could think of was to make sure my kids learned to love reading. So since they were very little, I read them many books but I didn’t just read to them, but incorporated fun, creative ways to make reading really fun and exciting. Now my kids have a strong love for reading, and my oldest child reads so much and wants to read during family dinner or even when her friends come over to play that we are constantly telling her to put her book down!
Here are 5 ways I made reading fun and exciting.
1. If they’re too little to read by themselves, listen to an audio book! Harry Potter is our family favorite and my kids couldn’t wait to be able to read the book when we were done with the audio series. Road trips are a great time to listen to them so you can listen for a longer period of time without having to pause frequently.
2. Act out parts in the book! Not just with using an animated voice or switching voices for every character, if there’s a part about a bathtub, have everyone huddle up inside the tub to read. If it’s about tickling or hugging, tickle or hug them as you read those parts. If it mentions dancing, twirl around or have a silly dance party!
3. Incorporate yummy food into reading. If the book mentions pizza, have a family pizza night or have them make their own pizzas. If it mentions popsicles, stop the book and have everyone run to the freezer to grab a popsicle so they can eat it while you resume reading. Food always makes everything more fun!
4. Read in a special setting. If it’s during Halloween, read a scary book in the dark with a flashlight, under the covers or in a hiding place. Go to a beautiful park and sit under the tree in the shade to read while sitting on a blanket.
5. Go to the library and have them pick out their own books. Don’t limit what they can and cannot read(as long as it’s appropriate of course), whether it be a comic book, a book about Captain underpants, a book with only pictures and no words, a book much below or higher than their reading level, it doesn’t matter! They’ll love the freedom and the independence they have when coming to the library and they know they can pick out whatever book they please.
Reading is so important in paving the way for our kids to have a higher-quality education, especially while they’re young. Reading helps with spelling, grammar, writing, eloquence, creativity, and being more open minded.
And just like reading, choosing the right Preschool for your child is so important. But it can be very overwhelming!
But I found this article by Kindercare very helpful in what to look for in finding a Preschool that’s best for your child as well as the rest of the family.
And I’m not going to lie, I am looking forward to school starting so I can get some alone time. I don’t want Summer to go any faster and I am enjoying my time with them but Summer can be crazy! And it’s important for us mothers to have our alone time regularly. I was feeling very burnt out being a mother a few weeks ago and as I was complaining in my head, I had an epiphany that in that moment of feeling burnt out, exhausted, frustrated, and annoyed, it’s in that very moment I become a better person.
My two oldests will be in school full day and my youngest will go to Preschool but I haven’t nailed down which school he will go to, I’ve been procrastinating. It can be so overwhelming because there are so many options! I’ve been looking into Kindercare for my son and have been so impressed with their program such as starting this year, Kindercare’s registered dietitian made big changes to their food program of not serving juice, fried foods or sugary snacks but introducing healthy, wholesome foods and also food from different cultures as well like Chinese lo mein, Indian chickpea biryani, and a southwestern rice-and-bean bowl. I love this! I’m a firm believer that having kids try new foods from different cultures makes kids be more open minded, be less picky eaters and helps them to appreciate the beautiful cultures that are out there. I also love that they clean their toys not just at the end of the day but throughout the day to make sure it’s clean and sanitary.
There are so many other things I’ve found that impressed me with Kindercare and I feel really good about sending my son there.
