You are in for a treat today with another new columnist sharing their expertise! Lori Byerly is the author of The Generous Wife blog, wife and mom of two (soon to be grandma). Enjoy what she has to share today!
My husband and I have often discussed our values and how they play out in our lives and the lives of our children. We cannot help but affect those around us and our kiddos get more than their fair share of our influence because they see us day in and day out. They see the good, the bad and the ugly. They see the real us. They see our real values lived out before their eyes. (Yes, a sobering thought.)
One of the values that my husband and I wanted to instill in our children was a love of learning. Life is such an incredible adventure and there is so much wonder and majesty around us. We didn’t want our kids to miss out on that. In examining that value, we realized how important reading was as a tool and we intentionally set out to infect our kids with a love of reading.
When our kids were small we had plenty of children’s books around. We put the books on shelves at their eye level. We read (and reread and reread) stories to them and we didn’t get cranky when the books got torn or worn (books should be handled). We visited the library often and went to reading hours. Our house was sprinkled with lovely picture books (the ones that just beg you to pick them up and turn the pages) and, as they aged, we continued to read to them, challenging them with more developed story lines. As they learned to read we took turns reading chapters. As a family we have fond memories of reading the Narnia books, Gentle Ben and the wild adventures of Hal & Roger Hunt.
But we didn’t leave it at that.
The best lessons are caught not taught.
We knew that our kids would learn from our example and if we did not love reading as adults, their interest in reading might fade with age and the busyness of adulthood. We are readers, but we put a bit of intentionality to it. We let our kids see us read and we shared about what we were reading (enthusiasm reveals the heart and dinnertime is full of chatter about what we are doing and what we are reading). When there was a question, we modeled curiosity and the use of tools to find the answers (Did you know that there are around 4,800 species of lizards?). When we traveled, my husband would do research beforehand so that we went prepared and enjoyed the sites. Our “to read” piles are always tall. We love reading and it shows.
(As an interesting aside, learning and reading has become a good intimacy tool for my husband and me. Sharing what we have learned gives us something to talk about and occasionally dream about. It’s like “our world” got bigger and more interesting.)
Today our children are grown. I hope we have truly infected them with a love of learning. May they find many grand adventures both in and out of books.
photo credit peapodsquadmom
