Guest Post by Jamie: Thanks for the Memories

Here is our first guest post!  (Want to write one? Send me an email or leave a comment with how I can contact you!) Today's post comes from Jamie Hutchinson, a friend I knew from different church functions and a youth choir when we were growing up. Now she is a wife, a mother to four children and a third grade teacher. She'll be back again on Monday with some more ideas, so stay tuned.

Thanks for the Memories…

By Jamie Hutchinson

Growing up I had my very own library, or at least that’s what I called it. There was this closet down the hall from my room that had shelves filled to the limit with books of mine. My mom encouraged my personal reading habits as a child by always ordering a minimum of one item from Scholastic book orders and frequenting the library. As I think back, I remember her reading a lot and also getting excited to get new books from the library. I honestly don’t recall sitting and listening to her or my father read to me. I know it happened, I just can’t think of a specific memory where it occurred.

I am now a twenty-five year old mother of four, wife to an amazing man, and third grade teacher with a Master’s degree in education. One of my goals is to create lasting memories involving books with those close to me (hubby, children and students). Teaching lends itself to expanding on stories because I am required to teach comprehension strategies and expect active engagement of all students in discussions. Reading with my husband is a very relaxing, intimate experience. We tend to read more spiritual literature together and it lends itself to good conversation and communication. Creating memorable experiences with my four children can be simple, but is of the upmost importance to me.

Almost one year ago, my mother-in-law witnessed my husband and I act out a book with my nine year old step-daughter. It was some silly story about a boy who has a runaway brain. We practiced all week, hung up a sheet from the basement ceiling, prepared a script and had super fabulous props such as a drawn on orange balloon brain. The reenactment lasted for maybe five minutes, but the memory remains. It is so thrilling to me that we shared an experience over a story, a picture book picked up at the library, which we all keep in our minds as something we enjoyed together. There was nothing academic about the book other than the fluency practice. The value of the book for us came in interacting with it and each other.

Books are so much more than something to hold and look at. Books provide comfort, escape, relaxation, adventure and can evoke a broad range of emotions in all of us. Children can be especially susceptible to messages in literature. I am always so amazed at the things my five year old step-son picks up from a story. Books create the best conversation starters for us. He tends to pick up on details in a book that I will overlook.

My two youngest children are almost eighteen months and two and a half months old. The older one has known how to turn pages in a book since he was six months old. Really. I started reading books to him before he was born. Now that he is mobile and literally running everywhere, the only times he sits still is when he finds a book and brings it to my husband or I with a hand rubbing his chest to sign “please”. It’s the most adorable request to read a book I have ever seen. He doesn’t often allow us to read every word on every page, but that’s not the point. He wants the experience. This little boy brings us a book, sits on our lap, snuggles up close and enjoys a few minutes of listening and visual stimulation. Our two and a half month old girl is too young to show signs of enjoying books other than relaxing in our arms as we read them to her. Right now it’s just a matter of establishing routine.

I mulled over preparing this blog post for a week. There are so many experiences and words of wisdom to share with others who wish to create lasting memories with children and books. Emotionally and academically though, the best thing you can do with your child for reading is to do more. Certainly find time to read more, but I literally mean DO more. Talk about the books. Put on plays. Read the characters with different voices. Get into it. Dress up. Play and have fun. Most importantly, let your child lead you. They will feel empowered by choosing books and letting their imaginations take over.

My next blog post will be more professional in nature and deal specifically with choosing books and creating experiences to capitalize on your child’s interest and developmental level. I leave you with these question though:

What do you DO to make a book last?

How do you create the memories in your home?

Thanks, Jamie!  What a wonderful piece you've written. I loved your phrase "let your child lead you," a great reminder for doing nearly anything we do that involves a child in some way.