ONCEKids Back to School Checklist (Part 2 of 4)

By: Kate Camillo

Welcome back fellow moms. We’re getting closer and closer to back to school! I know you’re as excited as I am. This week we are going to continue last week’s topic of a back to school checklist. Before you roll your eyes, go check out last week’s blog that describes how this isn’t just your average checklist that gets handed out on the first day of school.

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Today we’re going to talk about reading. Inspiring your child to read is big responsibility. Some kids “hate” reading. No one actually hates reading, they just think whatever they are reading is boring. If you can find a more interesting way to incorporate reading into their lives, why not do it. With all of this technology, there are so many forms of reading other than picking up a picture book. Show your kids blogs, expose them to the combination of storytelling and technology. Comic books, blogs, websites, and many other sources of reading can help your child blossom into the scholar you hope them to be.

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From reading your child can turn to writing. By playing games that include storytelling they can become interested in making up their own stories. This can help them with their writing skills in school. Storytelling to writing essays, your child will be able to do it all.

Reading and writing are those skills you can sneakily add into your kids life without them knowing. I’m sure they would notice if you asked them 5x5 and would yell at you about how “It’s the weekend!” By encouraging them to catch up on their favorite characters through a blog, or ask them to tell you story to get their creative juices flowing, you will be stimulating their mind. As a parent, it is your job to enrich their education.

As of right now, on our checklist we have:

• Provide your kids downtime
• Encourage new forms of reading
• Get their creative juices flowing with imagining stories

33 days until September 1st! 33! We’re so close. We’re almost there. We got this.

Importance of Reading for our Children

Written by Eileen Wacker ©

I often think about the importance of reading for children. I believe to my core that education and exposure to different things make a difference in our world. What kids read influences their view of the world and their place in it. Books have an impact on the person they ultimately become. An education is the greatest gift we give to our children and reading is critical to almost every facet of learning. But the whole ‘learning to read’ and ‘loving to read’ journey is inconvenient at best.

Reading causes a lot of friction between moms. At a recent back to school night, all the moms’ eyes are drawn to the reading stars chart. Whatever the teacher is saying is white noise. And I always notice where my child is first, but then like a computer, I calculate where all the other small humans fall in. It’s not all my fault. We have been told that all kids learn to read at their own pace and we should not worry. But then there are ladders and star charts and other indicators of a child’s success. This keeps moms up at night.

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At a Girls Night Out, one of my friends was going on and on about how much her child loves to read. She’s at a point where her son is hiding all his reading. It’s like a reading marathon every night at their house. I looked around at all the other moms’ faces. I wondered if I should tell her, “You’re are most definitely a buzz kill. Enough with the voracious reading chronicles! We don’t come to these dinners to feel like we are not doing enough and need to get home to find a tutor. We come to feel normal and have authentic conversations about our challenges and small successes. Save your Facebook fabulous for your thousand social media friends. ”

Then there is the friction at home. My four kids are decent readers now but it’s a huge battle. The reading journals were tough. My son said, “Reading is stressful when you’re not the reader type.” Yet he has an insatiable appetite for non-fiction books about athletes.  I had to learn to back off and let him pick his books, not push the suggested reading list every summer.

For me one of the most critical things we can do as parents is leave pleasure reading as free form. Our kids are overscheduled and march through their routines like little robots. We have to take reading back to the enjoyable adventure it is meant to be and not have some structured matrix of how to have assured reading success. If we do this then the reading nook becomes the place where fun goes to die. Kids love to be the heroes in their own stories and read about reluctant or non-traditional heroes in other stories.

I also love the messages of children’s and YA books. Most children’s and YA books have children/tweens/teens facing a challenge and then overcoming that obstacle. We need more of that spirit in our children. Trying things that have no guaranteed outcome. And, if there is a hovering adult in the story, he/she is usually the bad guy. The children/tweens/teens solve their own problems, not the helicopter parent.

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

Sometimes I’m surprised and rewarded as I’m driving. Between my four kids activities and social commitments, I’m in the car about five hours on Saturdays. Today my 12 year-old daughter and her friend had a party at the beach. I’m fine to be invisible as this is when I get to hear them talk about stuff they care about. Her friend said, “My favorite thing is to know the back story. Like, I want to know why the missing foot is important to the story.”

These moments remind me that my goal is to fret less about reading standards, charts and measures. And my challenge is to come up with ways to enable my children to read all the books that they want, and continue to be the heroes in their own adventures.

Reading is a Gift

Written by Kenna McHugh

Guest Blogger

“I will defend the importance of bedtime stories to my last gasp.” —JK Rowling

Reading is a Gift

My mother, a single parent of three children, never had time to read to us, although she viewed reading as important. So I was never a reader, but rather a TV watcher and moviegoer. This limited my knowledge about history, cultures, and life. I never knew what I was missing until I started reading to my daughter, and I discovered the benefits of not only reading to her, but also of being a reader myself. 

Shortly after her birth, my mother, now retired, stressed the importance of reading to my daughter, her precious granddaughter. She felt guilty for not reading to me. It worked and every night I read to my daughter until she read out loud and eventually on her own. 

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

Now, my daughter is 15 years old and never without a book. She devours books. She knows more about the world, mythology, and history than her friends and classmates. As a result, she has a high grade point average, is well-behaved, very literate and writes wonderful and meaningful prose. 

When she was an infant, we used to curl up in bed, and I would read board books to her like “Goodnight Moon,” “Run Away Bunny” and other titles. When the first Harry Potter movie was released, I didn't see it because my daughter was just a baby. But, when the second movie was released, my daughter was two and told me she wanted to see it because she had seen the first movie with her babysitter on a VHS. 

We saw the movie with a friend of mine and her ten years-old daughter. My daughter sat in the dark movie theater, riveted to the movie screen for over two hours. Only the spiders were scary to her.

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For several days after, my daughter talked endlessly about Harry Potter. So, my husband bought the first book and started reading it to her every night. The first time he read to her, she looked up at him with her big eyes and said, “There is more in the book than the movie.” 

Clearly, she understood the magic of reading a book. I was hooked too. I told my husband, “I want to read Harry Potter to her every night.” 

I read every Harry Potter book out loud to my daughter. To this day, I share this love of reading with my daughter. We are closer and connected.

So, I tell my friends and family when they hear of a good book or bestseller, pick it up and read it for pleasure. See if their world doesn't change or they don't notice the benefits of being a reader. And, always read to their little ones until they can read on their own. It is truly a gift.

Determination Wins Out

Written by Shelle Lenssen
Guest Blogger

Determination Wins Out

Literacy statistics are scary. I think of myself as fairly on-the-ball when it comes to early childhood education and read to my daughters almost daily, but these numbers give me full body shivers.  

Here’s a sampling:

        

--Children who have not developed some basic literacy skills by the time they enter school are 3 - 4 times more likely to drop out in later years. (National Adult Literacy Survey, NCES, U.S. Department of Education)

--78% of juvenile crime is committed by high school dropouts. (National Children’s Reading Foundation)

--60 percent of America's prison inmates are illiterate and 85% of all juvenile offenders have reading problems. (U.S. Department of Education)

-- More than 20 percent of adults read at or below a fifth-grade level - far below the level needed to earn a living wage. (National Institute for Literacy)

Those numbers should be enough for me to spend 20 minutes a day reading nursery rhymes to my 2-year old, or sounding out words in a first-grade reader with my 6-year old. After all, when I look at my sweeties, I certainly don’t see future crime-committing high school dropouts. I don’t see prison inmates or grown women struggling to earn an income. I see future astronauts, artists, teachers, doctors, engineers, writers, musicians, etc. Through my parenting lens, I see only good things and positive futures for my daughters.

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However, there are days when vomit covered bedding needs washed for the third time, a work project runs late, dinner burns in the oven, and the toddler screams through her bath. On those days, it is much easier to tune out, put on a kid’s show and let the children veg out in front of the TV for the evening. We’ve all learned along the road of this Parenting Journey that the easy choice isn’t always the right one.

And so we read. In a kitty voice, I read That’s Not My Kitten to a giggling 2-year old. My husband patiently sits with our frustrated first-grader as she sounds out tough words from her newest Fancy Nancy book. He also gives her an enthusiastic high-five when she finally gets it. We read in the car on long road trips and during the 20-minute drive to school in the morning. With our 6-year old, we go over sight words, spelling words, and vocabulary words. With our toddler, we sing silly songs and read the same book together over and over and over again. Our girls have a book nook in one corner of the living room and some nights, dozens and dozens of children’s books are strewn about as they both sit amidst the pile, flipping through their favorites.

Our reading routine may not match that of other families. The real point is we’re trying, and we’re going to keep trying.  The numbers tell us that reading is much more than enjoying a good book and quality time together; it also improves the futures of our children.

Oh, the Places They can Go

Tina O'Reilly
Guest Blogger

Oh the Places They Can Go!

Children need to develop the ability to read for survival in school and adult life. Children need to learn about new subjects and read helpful information, including academic research, consumer products, and medical information. If a child doesn’t learn to read, he/she won’t be able to absorb written information easily.

With the birth of the internet, came endless opportunities for reading. At one-time there was a perception the internet would be the death of books. Thankfully that prediction proved wrong. The internet is an enormous source of information and data, but hasn’t replaced the connection a child has while reading a physical book.

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Children reading can be an exciting activity. Children experience joy when they delve into a new world. Pick out books on subjects they enjoy so they’ll stick around and stay engaged. They should perceive reading as a pleasurable activity rather then a chore. Books are a source of fascinating tales and useful information for the right reader. 

n essence, books help your child with the development of their language skills. Hearing you speak the words and phrasing aids in their development of the spoken language and soon they’ll be able to express themselves verbally.

Reading out loud to your child teaches them proper grammar. I
A book, the school library and the web opens doors to so many places. Your child can learn about the earth, space, the stars, or dinosaurs. They can read about magical places with dragons and witches. Just think about the places their minds will go.

Books teach your child about places and people all over the world. They can learn about history and their heritage. Reading doesn’t need to be a solitary activity. Family members can join in the fun reading to your child and, in turn, get to share precious moments with your child. Do you have older children? Encourage them to read to your younger ones to strengthen their bonds.

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

Storytime at the library is a great time for your child to learn socializing skills. They can talk to other children about the story being read to them. Focus on the fun. Grab a special treat afterwards.
Reading ebooks can improve your child's hand-eye coordination as they click through the pages. They click forward and backward, not only learning motor skills but gaining valuable computer skills. Just be careful they can only reach child-friendly sites. 

Watch in amazement while your child experiences the love of reading. Books will nurture your children, and provide endless enjoyment for you too. Make the most of all the books and resources available to you and your child. Their little minds absorb information! Encourage them to reflect upon the stories as they read. Before long they’ll develop a creativity all their own.


Reading is critical for all aspects of your child’s learning. Grab a book and experience a lifetime of enjoyment.

Six Strategies For Keeping Kids Reading This Summer

Keeping kids actively reading can prove to be a challenge during the warm summer months- but just because school is not in session doesn’t mean that reading is any less important. It’s critical for kids to practice their reading and expand their skills while they aren’t in school, but with all the distractions of summer and no classroom setting, things can get tricky. Without teachers around, parents have to play the major role of motivators and supporters of reading. Below are some easy but effective strategies Laura Colker, Ed.D., suggests parents can employ to get their kids motivated and keep them reading during the summer.

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

1. Be an example

Your kids will be more likely to believe you when you say how important and fun reading is if you are doing it yourself- so read as much as possible this summer, especially in front of them. Whether it is a newspaper at breakfast or a book on the beach, leading by example will definitely increase the chances of your kids following in your footsteps and picking up a book themselves.

2. Pay a visit to your public library

Make a weekly trip to the library a fun family outing that the kids can get excited about. Make things even more exciting by letting the kids get their own library cards. Also, check your library’s website- many libraries have child-friendly summer events and reading programs. 

3. Read aloud with kids

Kids are around a lot more during the summer than any other time of the year- use this extra time to bond with them over books. Read-alouds are fun pretty much no matter how old the kids get, and maybe even for parents too. Laura also reminds parents not to forget to improvise or even wear a silly hat to make the story more interesting!

4. Use books to break the boredom

Without the busy schedule and structure of school, kids need more activities to fill in the hours. Use books as a way to teach kids that reading can be a fun way to keep themselves occupied when they are bored.

5. Combine books with other activities 

Kids are a part of a lot of activities during the summer. Whether it is going to the beach, going to a baseball game, seeing a movie or going to the park, bring books along and encourage reading as much as possible. 

6. Have plenty of reading material around

Laura emphasizes the fact that story books are not the only material that can make reading fun. Keeping lots of newspapers, magazines, and other informational material around can also spark a young reader’s interest. 

ONCEKids Publishing is run by literacy advocate and Mompreneur Eileen Wacker.  Click here to find her acclaimed books

Eileen Wacker Gives Her Take on Kids and Reading in an Article Featured on Baltimore's Child

Author, CEO of ONCEKids publishing, and mother of four, Eileen Wacker, was recently featured on Baltimore’s Child with her candid article about the subject avoided by many parents: their children’s reading skills. The busy working mom sheds light on the truth behind kids and reading; that most parents don’t find themselves with kids who love to read and just can’t wait to turn off the television and pick up a book. From a young age, it is drilled into our minds that good reading skills are vital for any success in school, so when parents find themselves with a child who is not picking up reading easily they panic- but Eileen is stepping in to say not only is that completely normal, but its okay. Nowadays, parents feel immense pressure to have their kids be excellent at everything and always one step ahead of their peers, when the reality is that for most parents that just isn’t the case. 

Click here to read the full article on Eileen's take on kids and reading

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