Once upon a time, an emerging reader stumbled over words. She hated reading aloud in class, and when she tried to read to her family, they constantly interrupted the story to correct her mistakes. She decided she hated reading until one day, her kitten, Theo, asked her to read him a book. He really did. […]
Parent’s often want to know if their children are reading at or above their grade level. Another critical question is how interested my child is in reading. Young middle-grade readers (ages eight to ten) should be transitioning from learning to read to reading to learn and be reading independently. They should be able to read […]
With ubiquitous tablets and phones, a child’s first introduction to reading may be audiobooks. But does this help or hurt kids in the long run? While audiobooks are no substitute for reading aloud with your children, they can supplement that time. Audiobooks can help build imagination and reading skills. When a child is learning to […]
We were late to the Harry Potter series. Three or four books were already out when we got the first one. We decided to read it aloud together as a family. That began a years-long journey together through the world of Hogwarts. When the final book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, […]
It’s no secret that building literacy into your child’s developmental years can benefit them for the rest of their lives. But again and again I hear from parents who are concerned about how to get their kids as excited about reading as they are about iPads, phones, and video games. In my opinion, there’s no […]
You might know me as the author of the children’s book series, Night Buddies, but did you know that I am also a huge history fanatic? I got my B.A. in ancient history from UNC Chapel Hill, and have made it one of my hobbies ever since. Being a lifelong learner of ancient history means […]
I’ve written a few posts now about how important it is for us as parents to help our children fall in love with reading. But today I want to take this one step further—I think it is important for us to get kids interested in reading about history. History is one of those subjects that […]
You want to know what I think? I think that right now, we are living in a time where most boys are encouraged to play sports or video games by their friends and by society to be considered “normal” or “cool.” We aren’t living in a world where the next generation of boys will be […]
There’s nothing better than the feeling you get as a parent when you walk into your child’s bedroom and see their nose buried in a book, completely lost in a world between pages. Today most children spend more time on their iPads or watching television than they do reading books, but we at the Night […]
We over here at the Night Buddies Amalgamated have some exciting news for you! The third Night Buddies book, Night Buddies Go Sky High, is going to be released early next year! We will provide you with an exact release date soon, but for now we are officially revealing the cover. As you can see, John and […]
Sharing bedtime stories with your child is an important night-time ritual for many parents. In fact, research has shown that children of parents who have bedtime stories show increased brain activity, particularly vocabulary and logic skills. Those skills will serve as the foundation for a better reader for the rest of their life. Bedtime stories also deepen […]
Reading is a skill that every parent knows is essential for their child to thrive in the modern world. Gaining your children exposed to reading helps foster brain development, language development, and more at a critical time in their development. The skills and behaviors learned in those early years can have a strong impact […]