As teachers, we know how powerful reading can be. Everyday we see firsthand the impact it has on our students—from building vocabulary, to improving comprehension, and fostering creativity in our students’ writing. But how do we help families bring this same love for reading into their homes?
My favorite idea to share with my classroom families is a Family Reading Challenge. This challenge is not about competition but rather a celebration of reading together! It encourages families to carve out time for reading as a shared activity – creating joyful and meaningful experiences.
Here are some tips you can pass along to your students’ families to help them get started!
Why Encourage a Family Reading Challenge?
A family reading challenge can strengthen the bond between parents and children, while also nurturing a love of books. We all know that children who read regularly are more likely to succeed in school, but when families read together, it’s about more than just improving skills—it’s about building memories and making reading a fun, positive experience.
By introducing this challenge to your students’ families, you’ll help them create an environment where reading is something they look forward to. Plus, you’ll be supporting their child’s literacy development beyond the classroom.
How to Set Up a Family Reading Challenge
You can suggest to your classroom families that they keep the reading challenge simple and flexible so it fits into any busy schedule.
1. Set a Reading Goal as a Family
- Encourage families to focus on creating a habit rather than counting books. For example, reading together for 20 minutes each night or reading a certain number of books together each week.
- Remind them to let their child have a voice in choosing the books! Giving children ownership over what they read makes the experience more enjoyable and engaging for them.
- Need some book ideas? Check out this post!
2. Use a Reading Tracker
- Send home the printable reading to get families started {keep scrolling for the freebies!}
- You could suggest to add notes about favorite books, drawing pictures of characters, or writing short summaries as a way to make tracking more interactive.
3. Celebrate Reading Milestones
- Encourage families to celebrate their achievements along the way! Whether it’s reading together every night for a week or finishing a longer book, they can celebrate with simple rewards like a family movie night, a special treat, or a visit to the library for new books.
- You could also offer a classroom-wide incentive. For example, once several students reach a milestone in their family challenge, the whole class could celebrate with a special reading day or event.
Ideas to Make the Family Reading Challenge Fun
You can also share some creative ideas with families to make their reading challenge even more enjoyable:
1. Create a Cozy Reading Space
- Encourage families to make reading time special by creating a cozy spot at home—a reading nook or fort where they can snuggle up with a good book. Kids love having a designated space, and it makes the experience feel more like an adventure.
2. Themed Reading Nights
- Suggest that families add a little fun by having themed reading nights, like “Superhero Saturday” or “Animal Adventure Tuesday.” They could read books on a particular topic or in a certain genre, making the challenge more varied and exciting.
3. Bring in Extended Family
- Families could invite grandparents or other relatives to participate in the reading challenge, whether through in-person visits or virtual read-alouds. This can expand the circle of reading fun and give kids even more opportunities to bond with family over books.
4. Make Reading Interactive
- Remind families to engage their child during and after reading. They can ask questions like, “What was your favorite part?” or “What do you think will happen next?” This helps deepen comprehension and makes reading more engaging.
- You could even suggest that students act out scenes from the books they read with their families or draw pictures to go along with the story.
Encouraging Family Participation
You can easily introduce the Family Reading Challenge to your students’ families by sending home the note or by including a short blurb in your weekly newsletter with a few guidelines and some book suggestions.
I’ve created a print & go letter for you to send home to families.
You could also talk to families during parent-teacher conferences sharing how this reading challenge can benefit their child’s literacy and love for reading.
As a classroom incentive, you might even consider starting a class-wide reading challenge that aligns with the Family Reading Challenge. You could track how many days in a row the class reads at home and offer fun, low-key rewards like extra recess time or a class reading party.
Send the poster to your local Office Depot or print shop to have it turned into an engineer print.
Making Reading a Family Affair
By encouraging your students’ families to start a reading challenge at home, you’re helping them take an active role in their child’s literacy journey. You’re also giving them the tools to make reading a fun, family-centered activity. The benefits of reading together—both in terms of literacy development and family bonding—will last far beyond the challenge itself.
Want the freebies to get started? Enter your info below!
Reading is a gift we can give to our students both in the classroom and beyond. By working together with families, we can foster a lifelong love of books and set our young readers on a path to success.
Don’t forget to pin this post!
