A Simple Way to Teach a Love for Reading

I am a huge proponent of reading. One of my main goals as a parent has always been to teach my children to not only be capable of reading, but love reading. I come from a line of readers, and I believe the person who can and does read opens a whole world of possibilities to himself. One of my greatest payday comments came this year when my child's Kindergarten teacher watched Brinley (2) do an activity with letters. The teacher commented that my children are all really good readers. This is something I have worked toward, so it is nice to know the effort has been worth it.

When I cam across the idea of Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) in The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease, I was very excited. It has come to be my number one favorite piece of advice from the book. It is something I do with my children consistently (when they are not in school) and have seen many great benefits from it.

WHAT IS SSR?

SSR is essentially reading for pleasure each day. When it comes time for SSR, you choose your reading material--whether it be magazines, a book, the newspaper...whatever it is you feel like reading, you read. You read together so that the children can see you modeling reading, but everyone is silent.

WHY DO SSR?

• SSR provides the opportunity to read for a long enough length of time that reading becomes natural. SSR has been shown to improve reading skills.
• SSR gives children the opportunity to read for fun. It shows kids that reading can be for pleasure. There are no quizzes and no tests--no pressure. SSR has been shown to improve attitude toward reading.

HOW DO YOU IMPLEMENT SSR?

Here are some tips on implementing SSR in the home:

1. You can do SSR with a non-reader.
2. Start with a shorter length of time. 10-15 minutes is a good start. You can then move up from there according to age and ability of child. We do 20-30 minutes a day; however, my children have been know to continue SSR for another 20-30 minutes.
3. Allow the child to choose his/her own reading material. Remind the child to gather enough reading material to fill the time. For a child who cannot read independently, she will likely need several picture books (or whatever she chooses) to get through the 10-15 (or longer) minutes.
4. Have a variety of reading material available in the home.  Research shows that "the more kinds of reading material in a home the higher the child's reading scores in school" (page 90), so don't feel like if your child chooses to read the paper or a comic book it is worthless time spent reading.
5. Have SSR at a time of day you can be most consistent with. For my older children, I like to have it after lunch. This is a time of day that is great to relax and take a break. This is especially true during hot weather months.
6. You read, also. You will come to love this time as much as your children do! You modeling reading is an important part of the effectiveness of this exercise.
7. No getting up and changing material once SSR has started. Part of your goal is to have sustained focus on reading, and if the child is getting up and down over and over to change books, it will distract from that goal. That is why you remind them to get enough to last through the time. If they mis-judge (and they will at first), tell them to look through their books again.
8. No talking during SSR.
9. No reports after SSR is over. This is just for fun. That doesn't mean you can't talk about what you read, just no formal testing. Let your child initiate any dialog on the reading material.

ANECDOTAL EXPERIENCE

Like I said, we love our SSR. We have now been doing it for about many years.

I love it for me. I love reading, and this is a chance for me to get some uninterrupted reading time each day--something that can be very hard to come by as a mom! 

I love it for my children. I see that they love it--they never grumble or complain when it is SSR time. It also gives them a physical break in the middle of the day and allows them to just relax and escape into the world of whatever they are reading. This is fantastic for older children who do not nap anymore.

I have also seen reading skills improve greatly, especially in my full-on readers. I have seen my children get faster and faster at reading when doing this daily. When my oldest was seven, he went gone from finishing a chapter book in a day or two to finishing it in just over an hour after a couple of months of doing this (we then added some more difficult books for him because of his speed). When SSR is over, he always wants to read longer. 

I see the efforts of SSR paying off in our home. Give it a try! You will see great benefits, also.

More posts on reading here.

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How To Improve Reading Skills Through Sustained Silent Reading

How To Improve Reading Skills Through Sustained Silent Reading. Great for preventing summer setback.

You know that I love the book  The Read-Aloud Handbook  (affiliate link) by Jim Trelease. Seriously one of my favorite books ever. My favorite, number one tidbit of information in the book is on Sustained Silent Reading (SSR).

SSR is reading silently to yourself for pleasure. You read what you enjoy. Magazine, newspaper, scriptures, novels, parenting books...whatever it is you enjoy, you read it. The idea is that reading for fun gets you reading, and reading a lot makes you a better reader. "Reading is a skill--and the more you use it, the better you get at it. Conversely, the less you use it, then more difficult it is" (page 84). 

Why Do Sustained Silent Reading?

• "SSR allows a person to read long enough and far enough that the act of reading becomes automatic" (page 85)
• SSR is meant to be informal with no quizes and no grading. This teaches children that reading can be for pleasure. I have always been a big reader. The time in my life where the amount of time I spent reading dropped significantly was in seventh grade when reading became less about enjoying reading and more about the grading associated with reading.
• In young readers, the use of SSR shows improvement in both attitude toward reading and skills for reading.



image by Candid Memories

• It increases vocabulary. "...printed material introduces three to six times more rare words than conversation does" (page 86).

How To Do SSR

Here are some rules to go by in the home:

1. Start with SSR being 10-15 minutes long at first. You can add time as you see your child is ready for it (and often the child asks for it to be longer).
2. The child chooses what to read.
3. Have a variety of available material. Newspapers, magazines, novels, picture books...any type of reading that is approved by you is okay. To keep material fresh and interesting, take advantage of your library. You can also subscribe to the newspaper and one or two magazines that would interest your child (my kids love National Geographic for Kids). Research shows that "the more kinds of reading material in a home the higher the child's reading scores in school" (page 90), so don't feel like if your child chooses to read the paper it is worthless time spent reading.
4. Choose a time of day you can be consistent with. 
5. You do SSR, too. This is very important--the child will benefit greatly from seeing you read.
6. No changing your material once SSR has started.
7. No talking during SSR.
8. No reports required. This is for fun.

Our Experience with SSR

Since this is my favorite aspect I have taken from this book, you know we have implemented it. We started it a little over a year ago. It went very smoothly. The children love it. This summer has been especially rewarding to me. Brayden can now read well, so SSR is more than just looking through books for him. In one week, he read five chapter books completely on his own. I think that is great! When the children cannot read yet, they still love SSR. They look through books and magazines. 

We do it in the afternoon and for 20-30 minutes. We all sit in the same room, but in our own space. One person per couch/chair/beanbag. I like it in the afternoon in the summer because it is a great physical and mental break from the activity of the day. The children come in from the heat, sit in the cool house, and just relax for half an hour. We follow the rules as I listed above.

I love SSR for me, too. It is hard to sit and read daily as a mom--especially while your kids are awake. This is time they do not interrupt me while I am reading. 

SSR is a great tool for avoiding "summer setback." Summer setback is when the child either does not make progress academically, or more commonly, loses progress academically through the summer. At the end of the school year, I asked both Brayden's first grade teacher and Kaitlyn's Preschool teacher what I should do with the child to help prepare them best for next year's school year. The answer from both teachers was "read." Reading is the number one tool to keeping skills up for school. Read to your child, and as your child is able, have your child read. For more on avoiding summer setback, see these three posts I have written on the Children's Learning Activities blog:

• Avoiding Summer Setback
• Summer Reading Programs
• Preventing (or minimizing) Summer Setback
• Read 30 Minutes a Day
• Reading Aloud to Children
• Reading to Infants
• Reading to Preschoolers
• Reading to Toddlers