March 2nd marks the NEA’s annual Read Across America Day, fittingly celebrated on Dr. Seuss’ birthday. This is a wonderful way to take pause and think about how rich our lives are because of all that we read. Here are many ways you can celebrate this day with your children from rounding up books to donate to simply making some time and space in your home to all read together.
As an adult, there are several ways to model the joys of reading, from participating in a local book club to volunteering to read in your local school district. As a parent, there are several ways to help nurture your own child’s love of reading.
Here are a few:
In school:
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Look into the Pizza Hut Book-It program, an incentive-based way to get your child reading. Book-It is celebrating 25 years of getting children excited about books. Find out how to get enrolled.
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Create a reading event in your school. This involves some preparation and communication with administration, librarians and teachers. NEA gives great suggestions for how to make this happen. A favorite idea to end the celebration is having a birthday cake for Dr. Seuss. There are also several downloadable pledge sheets, certificates, and posters for the day.
At home:
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Arrange a monthly book club with your child. Make it fun by creating some discussion questions. Make it even more fun by inviting friends or adding a thematic snack to the event. For example, if you are reading Popcorn by Frank Asch, you can pop some popcorn to celebrate the read. Here are some great book and recipe matches.
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Make trips to your local library regularly. Whether you are a working parent, or stay at home with your children, there is a wide-rage of daytime, evening, and weekend programs. Nothing beats the excitement of bringing home some new books to throw into the bedtime line-up.
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If you live in the city of Albany and have a preschooler, sign them up to get free book from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library sponsored by the Junior League of Albany. Click here to learn more about the program.
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Schedule a regular time to read to and with your kids. There are several great recommended reading book lists out there to get you started.
Here’s hoping you enjoy celebrating reading on this special day (as well as the other 364 days of the year!)
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