One of our family goals is to instill a love of reading into the four little hearts under our influence and under our roof. Early each summer my Man announces the "Reading Incentive" for the summer. The announcement comes this year after a great deal of thought and an even greater deal of figuring. Last summer a monetary award was offered for each chapter completed by our eager readers. One of the readers, however, came very close to breaking the bank by completing over 700 chapters. While our bank account took a larger hit than expected, our hearts were warmed as it appeared that another Wright had succumbed to a love of books and reading. Well worth the cost.
This summer the deal is as follows: readers will collect 1 cent per page read AND $1 upon completion of an entire book. Thus far, our big reader has raked in over $15 and isn't slowing down.
Why the great focus? Why the cost? Why the effort? I grew up reading and am all the richer for it. I desire that for my little ones. I love to read as an adult and am all the wiser for it. Abraham Lincoln said, "The things I want to know are in books. My best friend is the man who'll get me a book I [haven't] read."
There are books written that can teach you how to accomplish anything. I found over ten different books about how to do laundry properly--who would've thought. I've read books about how to feed the kids, how to feed the adults, how to clean my home and more specifically my kitchen sink, how to teach a child to play golf (no, I don't play), how to make the perfect pancake, how to pack a nutritious lunch, and you can bet I've got a book about blogging on a to-be-read stack somewhere. If you wanna know how to do it, some helpful soul has, in all likelihood, written a book to teach you.
Did you know that there are even books written about books? One of my favorites is called Honey for a Woman's Heart by Gladys Hunt. True bliss! I even caught my Man reading a blog post about reading! Crazy right? (Actually, that's what you're doing right now-it's ok, I'll not tell...)
Aside from reading to learn, I also want my children to know that reading is also a wonderful way to relax. Oh that they would know the pleasure of loosing themselves in wonderful stories, of curling up with a book that will captivate the imagination and stir the emotions and of making friends for life with the characters that greet them between the pages.
Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers. ~Charles Eliot
Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier. ~Kathleen Norris
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