Bedtime Stories
As a new mother I often found it hard to get my daughter to sleep in her own bed. Even if I could get her to initially sleep in her own bed, it was usually only a few minutes later until there was a little one cuddled in between mom and dad. This was the nightly routine until our family of three had grown to a family of four with the addition of my son. The sleeping arrangements would have to be changed; there wasn’t room for four in our bed.
I would read a bedtime story each night to get my daughter to fall asleep. This was a time we both enjoyed. She was always given the choice of what bedtime story we would read and she had her favorite. We would read the same book over and over. I couldn’t believe that my four year old daughter could memorize a whole book, but she did.
Through the years the ritual has stuck and now all three of my children have enjoyed drifting off to sleep to their favorite story. My original intent was to use the stories to help my children get comfortable in their own beds. Little did I know then they were receiving far more than just a good night sleep. I was giving my children a lesson in reading from each one of those bedtime stories.
I feel as if it is because of those stories that I read to my children that I am where I am today; being a literacy tutor for Minnesota Reading Corps. It has been fascinating to gain all this knowledge about how children learn to read, and how many times a child needs to hear a word before they can actually say it themselves. This is almost like completing a puzzle, putting the final pieces of a puzzle together and understanding the outcome. Reading all those bedtime stories was like putting all the outside pieces of a puzzle together (like a frame) and now Minnesota Reading Corps has given me the opportunity to see how and why everything works or fits together on the inside. It’s almost like thinking of a good reader as a completed puzzle. All the pieces of the puzzle have always been there but with a little extra tutoring we’re able to fit everything together and finally get a good look at the finished product, a beautiful picture, or in this case a better reader.
Through the years I have come to understand that you need to read to your kids and how important it is to have your kids read to you but I have never seen the whole picture like I am now being a tutor. This is an invaluable experience that the children, including my own, will have everything to gain from.
Minnesota Reading Corps Member, Pine City