Creating an atmosphere of learning by purposely placing educational items about your home is so important to do as a homeschooler. Your home should be an environment of learning. It should flow and mesh so well that your children have no idea when school begins and when school ends.
One thing we’ve done to foster this lifestyle of learning is to leave good books laying around the house in various and obvious places.
At every homeschool conference my husband finds books of interest that really have nothing to do with our curriculum, but are just “good reads.” Rather than shelve them and thus, forget about them, we randomly leave a few out here and there. My favorite place to leave books out is the dining room table. Anything I want the kids to read without me forcing them to read it, goes in the middle of the dining room table. They will see it and they will read it. Not because anyone “told” them to, but because it is there and it looks interesting.
I leave everything from newspaper clippings and magazine articles to unit study books and juvenile fiction just laying around all over the place.
Here are some other places you can leave books:
- the end table
- the bathroom
- in the car
- in their crates/workboxes
- on their beds
- in a box similar to our library box
So, what are you doing to create a learning environment in your home?
This post is linked to:
Works For Me Wednesday
and head over to At The Well where you can read how I am learning to bloom where I am planted!
Amy,
Please help me spread the word of a sister in Christ who so desperately needs help with a limited amount of time left.
http://godsheart-heart2heart.blogspot.com/2010/05/urgent-prayer-request.html
Love and Hugs ~ Kat
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What a fabulous idea! I think it may leave my dh twitching a bit, but I like it. lol! He leaves NOTHING out, EVER.
The bathroom, the bathroom, the bathroom. I leave books in there and rotate them out. Where else are we getting such focused time?! I got all teary-eyed when my 2 year old went to the bookshelf and got a book for lunch. We all read at the table when we eat. I figure, we live together all day, and talk a ton, so reading at the table isn’t as rude or “bad” as it might be in other, non-homeschooling homes.
.-= mama4x´s last blog .. =-.
This works for me too!
Enjoyed learning from you all tonight on the Twitter Party – my first.
.-= Debi´s last blog ..Beautiful =-.
I totally agree with the bathroom placement! That one always works for me!
Also–I love the idea of reading at the table from another commenter
Great post!
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Great idea! We definitely need to do this.
My daughter loves to read, but I have a hard time with my son. Need to make it more accessible to him!
Thanks for sharing!
Sherry
.-= Sherry´s last blog ..WFMW – Playing with my kids =-.
I just read in Hayley DiMarco’s book “Not-So-Stupid Parents” that if you want a child to read a book & they aren’t natural readers, just leave it laying out somewhere. I’m trying it now w/my daughter.
Have a great week!
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We do that too… its amazing how interesting a book becomes when its placed in view….
.-= GapGirl´s last blog ..A Quick Thought… =-.
At my house they pounce on anything that comes in the door. I have been requesting library books that I think they will like, and when I bring them home, everyone comes to see!
Yes, I have found that this tip works for all ages and both sexes!
.-= Bonni´s last blog ..Getting your preschooler to read War and Peace. =-.
Lovely idea! We do it too, to some extent.
The girls both have access to the library books we get for them … or they help pick out, if they’re with me when I drop by the library. MOST of the books we get from there are educational (animals, weather patterns, other parts of the country/world).
We keep our Voice of the Martyr, Gospel for Asia, and Compassion magazines on the back of the toilet and Gabriella (my 6yr old) ALWAYS reads through those.
And our bookshelves are in plain sight in the living room. Gabriella is always glancing at them … she’s asked to flip through one or two … but usually she sticks with her own books. Hannah (19mo) CONSTANTLY is taking my books off the shelves and flipping through them, looking for pictures. She’s yet to rip a page, so I don’t mind lol
.-= Brandy´s last blog ..The Homeschool Swap =-.
We keep VOM & Gospel for Asia laying out too!