You Want Smart Kids but Are You Doing This?

When you join a book club, you're not doing something selfish just for you even if that feels like your motivation in the moment.

Yes there will be friends, hopefully there will be wine and snacks, but joining a book club has an even greater benefit.

When you join a book club, you are doing something absolutely amazing for your kids.

I firmly believe that YOUR reading habit is a key indicator of how smart your kids will be when they grow up.

By choosing to make reading a priority in your own day to day world, you're helping ensure your kids grow up to be readers, too.

And readers are just amazing people, don't you think??

A strong reading habit won't just make your kids smarter, it is a phenomenal way to connect with your kids right now and impart all kinds of parenting wisdom.

How to Use YOUR Reading Habit to Help Your Kids

We read to escape and for pleasure. We read to learn and grow. Sometimes we read because we have to.

Use any or all of those reasons and turn your reading time into a parenting tool with these easy steps.

1. Prove that Reading is Important

If it is good for kids, it is good for you, too!

Do you fill your kids' plates with vegetables and avoid serving them to yourself?

Do you encourage your kids to play sports and then avoid exercise yourself?

A healthy habit is a healthy habit. And yes, reading throughout your entire life is a very healthy habit.

Not convinced?? Take a moment to go through these 15 reasons why reading is important for both kids and adults.

And then prove to your kids that reading is so important that you make time for it, too.

2. A New Way to Connect

If you tend to read while your kids are not watching, your reading habit can still benefit your kids.

Talk to them about what you're reading at the nightly dinner table, or in the car, or while going on a walk together.

Tell them what you love, what you're learning, or what annoys you most about the book you're reading.

3. Model Good Decision Making

How do you choose your next book?

How do you decide whether the book is a good fit for you?

One of the most common comments we get in the Peanut Blossom Book Club is that members are so relieved to not have to make the choice to pick their next book, but I'm sure they are each deciding whether or not to read any given month's pick.

The choice for which book to read can be very overwhelming, especially when you're super busy.

Even if you just use this as an opportunity to discuss how you determine a positive source of inspiration (i.e. the PB Book Club, GoodReads, or wherever else you're finding your next read) your kids will learn to use a filter on the incoming information available to them.

4. Model Self Care in a Busy World

Do you work all day and night? Is that what you want for your kids when they are grown up?

Or are you hoping to raise kids who have a sense of work-life balance?

Raising a family is hard work. If you work a day job and then manage the kids all night, when do you find time for yourself?

Use these awesome tips for taking time to read, even if it is only for just 5 - 10 minutes a day.

You'll be happier and your kids will watch and learn as you prioritize your own self care.

5. Discuss Life Lessons

Inevitably, characters in your books are going to make bad choices and bad things are going to happen to them.

Use the stories you read as a way to have difficult conversations with your kids.

It is much safer and more comfortable to discuss poor choices when you're talking about a fictional character:

"I couldn't believe the character did XYZ or that they reacted this way to this situation. I would have done XYZ instead. How about you???"

6. Reinforce Positive Character Traits

As you read, you'll fall in love with certain characters. What is it about them you find so endearing?

Talk to your kids and share the positive qualities you see in the fictional characters in your book.

Even better, relate those traits back to your kids:

"I loved the heroine because she did XYZ and she reminded me of you when ______."

7. Create a Sense of Wonder

Where does your current book take place? Have you or your family been there before?

Use your book to expose your kids to new countries and destinations.

Simply talk about the settings that sound intriguing or suggest you watch a movie during family movie night that is set in the destination because you're curious to see what it looks like because of your book.

Show them that your curiosity about the book doesn't end when you shut the cover.

8. Delicious Forbidden Fruit

We want what we "can't have."

When a child asks for (or sneaks) a copy of your book to read, they will feel like they are getting a taste of the forbidden.

Fill your house with YOUR books and keep them where your kids can see them. Some of my favorite books were "snuck" from my dad's bookshelf when I was a teen.

9. Model Thoughtful Reading

Show your kids that reading isn't just a checklist item on your to do list, but that you are finding inspiration from what you read.

Bring the latest thought-provoking quotes from your book to the dinner table. Or, share a favorite quote from a book you've read in the past and talk about why it stood out.

I love highlighting passages in my Kindle because I can pull up the quotes easily on my phone if I want to reference it later.

10. Teach How to Set Boundaries

Good reading will absolutely lead to a wide range of emotions.

Read enough books and you're absolutely going to find books you just can't stand.

Show your kids that it is absolutely ok to HATE it, it's ok to be angry or annoyed with the characters.

Show them it's even ok to abandon a book! Life is too short and your time is too valuable to waste on a book you can't stand.

Just share with your kids how you make that choice to protect your time.

Next Steps

Looking for the best online book club for busy parents??

We would absolutely love to have you in the Peanut Blossom Book Club for Recovering Readers.