Making Reading a Family Ritual

By Martha Caldwell

When my daughter Lee was in fourth grade, her teacher, Peter, required his students to read a half-hour each day. Peter encouraged us parents to schedule quiet time before bed each night for our children to read. He didn’t care what the kids read and he encouraged us to help them find books that matched their interests, had characters that they could relate to, and stories they would find fascinating. He stressed that reading below grade level was fine because anything they read, even picture books, would strengthened their mental reading muscles. His goal for his students was that they learn to love reading and that they develop a daily reading habit. 

Sometimes Lee and I sat beside each other silently and read our separate books at bedtime. Sometimes I read aloud to her and sometimes she read aloud to me. We talked about the stories we were reading and shared our anticipation about how the stories might turn out. I saw her interest in reading skyrocket that year. Now she’s an anthropology professor at a university, so of course, she still reads every day!

Making a daily habit of reading, however, doesn’t have to start at the age of ten. My son-in-law, José, reads to my two grandsons every night before bed. The boys look forward to their reading time ritual with their dad. They each get to choose a book they want to hear and then José chooses a third book he wants to read to them. Then the three of them snuggle up in bed and story time begins. After the finishing the books, they’re calm and ready to go to sleep. It makes bedtime so much easier!