Promote Literacy at Home with a Bookish Advent Calendar

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I’ve never been big on advent calendars. Opening little doors to reveal cheap candy or trinkets? Where’s the thrill in that? But, when a Facebook friend shared an idea for a literary advent calendar, I thought I’d give this holiday staple another chance.

The idea seemed easy enough: wrap 24 books, stack ‘em, open one each day until the fat man and his reindeer arrive. This non-traditional advent calendar is a good fit for our bibliophilic (book lovin’) family. We avoid the proliferation of plastic toys and cheap chocolate (both of which would end up in the trash), spend a few quality moments as a family and give the peeps another opportunity to show off their mad reading skills.

Over the course of a couple of weeks, I scoured thrift shops and the peeps’ bedroom bookshelves for 24 gently used (or forgotten) books that I could quickly wrap and stack. Many of them sport a Christmas theme, but some I included because I knew they would interest the girls. The last book they will open is ‘Twasthe Night Before Christmas. (I know, very clever and totally original.) I wrapped all the books and had them ready to go by my planned Dec. 1 unveiling. Imagine my delight when the peeps bought into the idea!

A week into the project, I will admit that the girls’ excitement for our advent calendar has waned a bit. After all, even the most studious of 1st graders would prefer candy or toys over books. However, they do continue to show some enthusiasm for unwrapping and reading a new book each night. I’ll take whatever I can get as long as it’s promoting our family’s belief in strong reading skills.

Be sure to read about The Advent CalendarWars (Animal Jam Vs. Literacy) over at my other blog, My Ideal Reality.

How does your family promote literacy at home during the holidays?

Thanks for reading! It keeps your Mind Full of Literacy.

My Kindergartner Read WHAT?

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As a former reading teacher, my area of expertise is with striving middle school readers. My perennial challenge was to dig up reading materials that were high interest/low ability and looks middle school-ish. Nothing kills a middle school student's confidence faster than walking around with a elementary-level reading book.

As a mother of twin kindergartners, I'm facing a different challenge. Both peeps read well above grade level. Not only that, but they have mind blowing comprehension skills. So, in a strange - and thrilling! - turn of events, I'm faced with finding high ability/appropriate content reading material for them. Junie B. Jones is a favorite, but I can tell those books aren't presenting much of a challenge anymore. Tonight, I passed along  A Wedding For Wiglaf?  by Kate McMullan . It's around a  3rdgrade level, and I think they might enjoy it. I finished it today as part of my Project 2013 (which isn't going so well, but that's fodder for another blog).

One of the peeps' teachers recommended that we let them read what they want to read, and I must admit I'm leaning in that direction. My father never censored my reading when I was growing up (he probably should have), so limiting my kids' access to reading makes me uncomfortable.  I don't want them to become bored with books to the point that they stop reading, but I'm a little nervous that they will uncover too much too soon and I'll have a lot of  explaining to do. Parental discretion is advised, right?

Are there any teachers or parents out there with the same challenge? I'd love to hear your solutions, and if you have any reading recommendation, PLEASE pass those along!

Thanks for reading! It keeps your ... Mind Full of Literacy!

By the way, I hope you'll take a few minutes to check out my other blog, My Ideal Reality.