Never Too Festive: Parenting with More Joy & Less Mom Guilt

Helping Your Kids Learn to Love Reading with Reading Specialist Maria Golden

• Elizabeth Hambleton

Share episode

Loved it? Hated it? Not sure? Send me a text!

Unlock the secrets to nurturing young minds through the power of reading with us on Never Too Festive! Join Elizabeth Hambleton and special guest Maria Golden, a seasoned reading specialist and educator, as we explore how families can inspire a lifelong passion for books. Discover the challenges children face in today’s fast-paced world, where traditional nursery rhymes are fading, and learn practical strategies to turn reading into a joyful, shared family adventure. Maria shares her inspiring journey from preschool teacher to reading advocate, shedding light on the need for structured support for those who find reading daunting.

Engage with us as we navigate the complex landscape of modern children's literature, from the positive themes of today’s books to the emotional depth of classics like "Bridge to Terabithia." We discuss how literature reflects societal changes and emphasize the importance of conversations that books spark. Explore the role of audiobooks as a tool for enhancing comprehension while maintaining the crucial balance with physical books. Elizabeth also shares her personal reading journey, including her newfound admiration for Brene Brown’s compelling exploration of shame and vulnerability, with insights on how such works can impact personal growth. Whether it's making reading a stress-free and enjoyable experience or turning car trips into literary adventures, this episode is a treasure trove of inspiration and practical advice.

Connect with Maria here.

Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to another episode of Never Too Festive. I'm your host, elizabeth Hambleton. If you have been listening for any length of time, you know that I am a huge reader. Some of you who've been listening since the beginning might even know that when I met my husband, I did not own a TV. People thought that was very weird and people would ask me what do you do without a TV? And I would say I do all the things that you watch people on TV do, and that includes reading. Reading is a huge part of my life. It's a huge part of my family's life and our culture and you know, if you've ever had a child who struggled with reading or who just wasn't into it, that is a huge part of being successful in schools and early education. So we are talking all about how to develop good reading habits for your kids, helping to foster a love of reading and how to create this as a family habit in.

Speaker 1:

Hey there, mama, and welcome to never too festive, the podcast where we celebrate the extraordinary in everyday motherhood.

Speaker 1:

I'm Elizabeth Hambleton, your host and fellow mom, on a mission to help you rediscover your sparkle, redefine your style and reclaim your sense of self in the midst of motherhood mayhem. Do you ever feel like you've lost touch with the stylish, confident woman you used to be before kids? Are you tired of living in yoga pants and feeling like you've lost touch with the stylish, confident woman you used to be before kids? Are you tired of living in yoga pants and feeling like you've gone from thriving to just surviving? Well, mama, it's time to reclaim joy, creativity and style, while embracing the fabulous mom you were meant to be. So grab your iced coffee and join me as we embark on a stylish adventure together, because here, on Never Too Festive, there's no such thing as too much sparkle, too much flair or too much celebration. Get ready to shine bright and live your most fabulous, joyful life, because you deserve it. So I'm so excited to welcome Maria Golden to the show, who is a reading specialist and educator. Welcome.

Speaker 1:

Hi Elizabeth, Thank you so much for having me, yeah well, I would love to start out with if you were an educator, how did you become interested in reading specifically, that is a fantastic question because that's a semi-lengthy story.

Speaker 2:

So I started right out of school as a 4k teacher preschool age children and we were asked to do assessments on the kids the first year. I was there and it baffled me when I was in this little closet, had to bring the kids in because it was so noisy and we were working on these early literacy skills and one of them was rhyming and I would say a nursery rhyme and they'd have to finish the end of it and more than half of the kids struggled just hearing those nursery rhymes. And growing up I heard these nursery rhymes all the time, so I thought that'd be easy and I realized that that's has almost gone away, or it has seemed to go away in our culture, that we just don't hear nursery rhymes as often or say them with our kids. So then, fast forward a few years. I taught fourth grade and the kids in my classroom I saw a group of students who just hated to read, almost to tears anytime. I brought them to the reading table and I worked to build their confidence as readers and that was such a struggle.

Speaker 2:

And I was transferred then, a few years later, to a first grade classroom, and this is where I felt like I knew I wanted to focus on reading, because those same things that I saw in fourth grade I also saw in first graders. They're six, seven years old and some of them hated to read. They would cry, tell me that they're bad readers. Like you barely started, how can you consider yourself a bad reader? And so many of my students were struggling at the time and I didn't know how to support them. So I decided to get my reading teacher specialist license so that I could learn. How do kids learn how to read? How does someone in their brain begin the reading process? And through that I learned that I didn't know as much about reading as I thought and could then help my students build those foundational knowledge, that those foundational skills they need in order to feel confident as readers. So that was kind of my long story of how I saw this pattern of kids struggling with reading, and then I just decided I'd have to learn more about this.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I think that actually brings up a lot of like so many interesting things, because my mother was actually a longtime educator and she became a learning specialist with a dyslexia focus, so she focused a lot on reading. A learning specialist with a dyslexia focus, so she focused a lot on reading. And I remember her talking about the same thing of being in her classroom and a kid asked her I don't remember the exact word, but it was like why is way w-e-i-g-h and also w-a-y, or like what is like why do those letters make that sound combination or something. And she stood there and thought to herself I have no idea. And so she was motivated to go and learn more and became a real reading advocate and stuff. And we were all big readers as kids and this was when I was way past learning to read.

Speaker 1:

But I think it's true that many teachers are doing their best and I don't mean this at all to shame teachers but they don't have necessarily a huge reading background in just a general education setting and that can be challenging, I think, for the parent, because I don't know how to read. Well, I know how to read, but I don't know how to read. Well, I know how to read, but I don't know how to teach reading either, so I'd love to hear from your perspective. How do parents who think their kid is struggling with reading or doesn't seem to like it, how do we know when it's a phase and they just haven't gotten into it yet, and when do they need a more structured intervention? That would be above and beyond what a more generalized classroom teacher could provide.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's a deep question because that could go so many different ways. From my experience, usually the teachers will be able to tell when a student just really can't keep up or is having a hard time. If connecting letters sounds to letter, the visual is really hard for students and they have tried over and over again. That's one thing to be looking for. If it seems like they can't, if the letters are jumbled and they can't sound them out in a phonetic way, that's another thing to look for. There's and if there is, if you're all readers at home and you're reading all the time and no matter how much you're reading with your child, it seems like they push back every step of the way. It wouldn't hurt to at least ask if there's an intervention that could help them and the teachers. While a general classroom teacher might not have the specialized training, there is always somebody or multiple somebodies in the school who has that specialized training who can help, either give an evaluation or give you some tips and tricks on that too.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think that's true. I've found that in our schools that sometimes it's just advocating for getting access to the person who maybe would know more or could tell you more or do testing or things like that.

Speaker 2:

And comprehension is also big too. It reads something and they just can't seem to grasp what is being said. It's another sign that maybe they're just not processing it all the way through.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's interesting Because I do as a mom. I think of learning to read, the issue being more the actual sounding it out and knowing that T-H-A-T. The letters say that. But it's true that comprehension is a whole different question of maybe they're sounding it out, but are they really understanding? Could they tell you about the story? And that even seems maybe harder, as the parent, to tell what would be a sign that they are on track and what would be a sign that maybe we need practice.

Speaker 2:

Well, when you read with them, or when they read to you, or even, let's say they're reading on their own and they've had 15 minutes of reading to do, you can ask them what did you read about? And I always encourage parents and this can be difficult depending on your schedule but keep a tab. What are your kids reading? If they're reading a chapter book, maybe skim it so you kind of know the idea of what they're reading, so that when they retell you what's happening, you can have a grasp of whether they have the concept or not. So, having conversations about what they're reading, instead of oh, go, do your 15 minutes of reading and that's that. Having a conversation of oh, what'd you read about today? What's happening in your story? What's the problem in the story that you're reading? How is the character trying to solve that problem? Any of those things could help you understand if they are comprehending what's happening in the story what's happening in the story.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I also think that that's a huge unlock for getting kids more motivated. Because my kids are older, or at least they're not learning to read as much. My son is in fifth grade and my daughter's in second, but she's pretty proficient. She can read chapter books on her own and I know when my son was getting into longer books like Percy Jackson and Keeper of the Lost Cities and Skandar and all those middle grade books.

Speaker 1:

So some of those you guys may not know, but, like middle grade being, you know he reads anywhere from three to 900 pages in a book on his own.

Speaker 1:

But he really wanted someone to talk to about the book and about the characters and so he and I would start reading together and I'm a little faster than him because you know I'm past fifth grade so I would read first generally, so I'd read one and then give it to him and then I'd read two while he read one and I'd read kind of usually I get a little head, but I'd read all the way through and he and I read a 9,000 page series this past summer together and I do feel like it keeps him so much more engaged when he can talk to you about the characters and what's going to happen and, oh my gosh, mom, that cliffhanger. And he it's not that he couldn't read alone and he probably would read alone, but I think that accountability, it can be so motivating. Do you find that families that make it more of a family-wide activity have better success with reading?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely 100%, because if a child sees that reading is valued in their household, that mom and dad read, that siblings read, maybe grandparents read with them, that this is just normal. This is how we function as a family, that we read together. They have no reason to not want to do it as well, because they want to be part of the family. It's natural. I have younger kids, so there are two, four and six, so I'm not quite at the age that they are reading by themselves yet, but I cannot wait for the day where I can do that. I've got a whole sack of books here I am saving for when they're reading and we can read or I can read the book. Then they can read the book and we can have conversations like our own little book club.

Speaker 2:

It's so dirty but I'm like no, we do for sure, I love it Like, especially in the winter you get under a blanket on like a winter break situation and everybody reads yeah, so, and it's motivating for me and I know my kids love to read already or love listening to reading and trying to read on their own that that's going to motivate them to read more because they're making a connection with the most important people in their life and sharing experiences and thoughts and their excitements and their sadnesses as they're reading. Because reading there's a lot of emotions that can play in there and having someone to work through that with or lessons learned is that they've learned while reading great opportunities for conversations that go well beyond just reading but about how to handle conflict and differences in families and and challenges around the world. There are so many conversations that could come up by reading together.

Speaker 1:

Well, it's funny because, speaking of emotions, I don't know if you found this and your kids aren't maybe quite as old as mine, so maybe you haven't hit some of these books yet but I feel like modern kids' books are so much more positive and happy than what we read as children, like we were reading bridge to terabithia and old yeller and all these books where the main character like dies or their dog dies or their parents all die or there's all these tragic stories, and now I find that what the popular, a lot of the popular series. They are a very different vibe than what we read as kids and it's interesting, when you mix them, how different the kids reactions are to them. That it's it's. It's funny how much the reading books that are current now reflect parenting shifts and expectations of what millennials would want their kids to read. I don't know if you found that as well and I've now.

Speaker 2:

I've read it to my kids. They don't quite understand it yet but I love the book. So much is Wonder. And then, yeah, my son read that movie and that has some emotions in there, and my kids already. At when did we read it? There were three and five. They already were catching on to snippets of why was he mean? You know all those things. But like the true, deep sadness that you feel sometimes reading these stories, I don't find that as often in these books now, like I remember stopping through some of these stories and just feeling the giver.

Speaker 1:

I mean they send that kid just out into the wild. He's on his own. Yeah, oh gosh. I read that at maybe nine or something and it was heavy. I mean even Lois Lowry, it's like those were all super dense. It's interesting how much it has changed. Which.

Speaker 2:

I like our society. Our society has changed the books that are coming out from.

Speaker 1:

That is changing too yeah, which I think it kind of circles back to. It is important, I think, a lot as much as you can as the parent, to skim or read the book, because sometimes you have no idea what's going to be in those, especially as they get longer the content, themes and stuff. It is important that you kind of sussed it out for yourself and made sure you feel good about it, feel good about it. But I actually wanted to ask you I know this can be a little bit of a hot topic how do you feel about audio books? Because some people whose kids don't love to read I know that one popular option is to give them audio books as a substitution, let's say, for actually reading a physical book and do you think that's good? Do you think maybe it's problematic? Do you think it has a place but it's different? What would you say?

Speaker 2:

I'd say first that I am a paper book person.

Speaker 2:

I prefer that personally, 100%. I just checked out a. I don't think it's an audiobook, it's a digital book from the library and I just got it yesterday and I'm like, oh, I don't know, it's not paper, I don't know how I'm going to handle that. But for some kids it is helpful. And what I, what I feel is most helpful with the audiobooks is having an audiobook that's reading to you while the book is there in front of you, so as you hear the words you can follow along with the words that are on the page. So it's like a double whammy of understanding. If you're having a hard time reading the words, you can hear how they should naturally go. That helps with fluency.

Speaker 2:

If a child is struggling with fluency, being able to hear a strong reader fluently reading a text is really helpful to hear that, the pacing and all of that. But then also seeing the words while they read is helpful for decoding words and understanding the text. So some kids that's helpful. And it's also helpful to listen to audio books because you're still working on comprehension. But I personally don't feel that audio books should be the only thing that kids are reading. There has to be a balance, because you still need to be able to read the words If you're going to write a paper. I guess we do have the text or speech to text all on computers now, but that still doesn't substitute actually knowing the words and how to spell them and how to read them. So I think there has to be a balance between all of that. Audiobooks are fantastic, but there needs to be a balance.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I agree with that and I find that we use audiobooks more in situations where we want to do it together and reading a physical book would be impractical. So we don't allow screens in cars or on trips. Really, for a long time we didn't even really have screens for each of them and then we just never really got into that. So we'll do audiobooks on long car trips and sometimes I think if you have a kid who's maybe hesitant and you show them something like Harry Potter and they're gonna look at it and think that looks really long and boring. There's no way I'm interested.

Speaker 1:

We not that my kids necessarily thought that, but we started Harry Potter in audible on a trip and then by the time my son had heard that first one, he was hooked on the series and was super motivated to go back and read the ones that came after. So it was an interesting way to add. That wasn't even my intention when we started, but it created interest and buy-in in the idea of the series and we actually got started on keeperer of the Lost Cities, which is a middle grade series. On the same way. It was on a family vacation and we listened to the first one and then he came home and said please buy me all of these, these are amazing. And he kept reading. So I guess it could also be good for that building interest, because sometimes in my experience finding a book that piques your kids interest is the hardest part. Once they have that independent interest, they'll keep going. Do you have any tips for picking out books that are going to be kind of sparking that love of reading?

Speaker 2:

yeah. So this is tricky because sometimes what you think is going to be their favorite book, you get it for them. They're like, no, I'm not going, I'm not going to read that. Um, figuring out their interests and really paying attention to what they choose, uh, on their own, to read. So if they if there's anything that they pick out on their own or they bring home from school notice the genre, notice the characters in the story If it's on a certain topic, and see, do some Google searches, what are some other books that are popular for that age group that might spark your child's interest?

Speaker 2:

And I have a similar story with Harry Potter. My mom thought I would love Harry Potter and she bought it for me and I read to page 11. I don't know why I remember that, but I read to page 11. And I was like this is boring and I put it to the side for maybe three years and then one day picked it up. I read the books at least six times, all the books at least six times. At least six times, all the books at least six times. I love them so much.

Speaker 2:

So sometimes a little bit of coaxing, because my mom would be like, hey, I got you that book. You should just try it a little bit longer. I always tell my students give it like a few chapters before you decide to abandon it. The first few pages aren't going. That's still the exposition. That's still the beginning of the story. Yet We've got to work our way through the problem and actually see if it'll catch your interest. So figuring out what they are really interested in and will willingly read on their own, and trying to find something in that niche. What's really popular right now are those comics, the comic books. Those are really popular with kids right now and they just keep making more of them. I know that Gary Paulson was always a big one that a lot of the boys in my class would like to read. There are so many books out there. There's going to be something that any child would love to read. There's. There are so many books out there. There's going to be something that any child would love to read. It's just finding that right one.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and if anyone who's listening is interested in books suggestions, you can text me in the show notes and let me know, because I could do a whole lengthy episode on book recommendations. If there is interest, because we read a lot and I have found both boy and girl hits that because it's interesting. My daughter was a much harder sell on books, even ones that I thought maybe would hit her interests. A lot of them were complete fails. But then she got into this whatever after series, which is a essentially modernization of fairy tales, and has loved it. And I believe there's a round 16 in the core series and then there's a spinoff I can't even remember what they're called. They're Whatever After, special editions or something along those lines.

Speaker 1:

And then there's another four or five of those and they're still coming out and once both of my kids, like once they found a series they loved it unlocked the world of reading in a way that me telling them reading was cool never really accomplished. So I want to just encourage people listening. If you haven't found the perfect book, just keep trying, and that's what libraries are good for. It can get pricey and hard to do it if you're buying all of them, but just go to a library and try it. I don't know if you have other suggestions, too, for finding books that hit the mark for people well, series, for sure you mentioned series.

Speaker 2:

I think that's kind of a key thing right there, because maybe find one book, but if it's a, a book by an author who makes many, like gary paulson does, then that's good. But library for sure that's my go-to place for books. Um, sometimes in some cities there'll be book exchanges, like moms will get together and and we'll talk about oh, this is what my kid's reading. We have it. Do you want to borrow it and exchange books? So that is another option.

Speaker 2:

And those thrift stores half-priced books or Goodwill sometimes has, and whatever thrift store is in your area, those are great places to get books, especially if you just want to try it out. Sometimes that's hard if you're trying to find all the books in a series. Yeah, that's when the library comes in handy, for sure, because then you can get it from you know any library. But uh, finding something and not having to spend a ton of money, definitely library, thrift shops, half price books, or see if there's other parents in the area that have recommendations that could let your child borrow one of theirs.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, for sure I felt like we've gotten some of our best recommendations from other parents who have kids that are similar ages though not everyone reads the same stuff, but you can still kind of get food for thought, I guess. If a parent just feels like reading is a struggle and they don't even know why, maybe their kid is somewhere in early elementary, what would you say is a tip for them or the number one thing to be looking for? How would someone know, is my kid just developing a little slower? Because, I will say, one of my children basically taught themselves to read and was off to the races, and there you go, and the other one took a little bit more handholding but seems to be fine now. How would a parent know if it's just the kid needs time or the kid needs support?

Speaker 2:

I think first is give them time. We are in a bit of a culture where if they're not reading like right now, we think something's wrong right now. But some kids just develop a little bit slower. So I recommend be consistent, read together, show that reading is important, have them read books often. If they don't want to read, at least read with them. So and point to the words as you read, so that they can be bringing all of that together. And I had another thought too so you want to be giving them time.

Speaker 2:

Oh, the pressure. Sometimes the pressure is what turns kids off to reading. Where either it's the teacher or it's mom and dad at home or there's someone else is like why aren't you reading? You need to be reading your full. I mean, we want them to read often. But when it becomes something that is a stressor who wants to be forced, like you need to sit here right now at the table 20 minutes and get your reading done, and it becomes something that a child dreads because there's so much pressure and angst around it. And why aren't you doing this fast enough? Why is the book not finished yet? And then the kid just learns to dislike it and they dread that every day. So, while we do want to be consistent but also positive, like oh, you are having a hard time reading that, would you like me to read it with you? I'll read a page. You can read a page and have it more of a connection than a source of stress for them.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, time and space, and I think even adults feel that that so many times if there's something that we have time and space and I think even adults feel that that so many times if there's something that we have pressure to perform, we don't enjoy it as much and it doesn't feel fun or leisurely. And when we put that same pressure on our kids I've seen that in my kids social circles of the leveled reading groups and things like that can create and I know the schools are trying to support kids where they are and have literally leveled books for them and I totally see the logic for that but it also can create that social pressure of or that self-shaming talk of mom I'm in level G but my friend is in A or B or whatever it is and that can be hard to navigate right, it is hard and I even I have my six-year-old, who's really catching on to everything, and my four-year-old um, we're doing some stuff at home, but in 4k they just want them to know their letters.

Speaker 2:

But because he's not at what his sister's at, he's like all stressed out about it. I'm like it's okay, dude, you don't have to know all your words right now. You don't need to be reading at a first grade level right now. It is okay. Everybody learns at a different pace, so that starts really early. That comparison, so that's hard.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, and then, because we've talked a lot about kids, I would love to hear a little bit about your reading habits. As a mom, I'm a huge reader, read over 60 books in 2024, hoping to do even more in 2025. Are there any books that you love or that you're looking forward to this year that maybe someone listening thinks I haven't actually read in a long time, but they want to get back into it too.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I don't read as much as I want to right now because of my craziness of life, but recently, the past four months or so, I was like I am missing a piece of my life and it came down to books. So recently I've been reading. I don't know if anybody's heard of this before. It's Brene Brown. I don't know if you've heard of it.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, of course, brene Brown, I'm like the ultimate fangirl.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I just got into her books and they have been phenomenal.

Speaker 2:

Oh, they are so good Learning about myself, and it was like this eyeopening experience. It's actually one of the books where I'm like I got it from the library and I'm thinking, hmm, I think that's going to have to go on a wishlist because I'm going to reference these in the future Um, cause they're just so powerful of and they're topics that nobody wants to talk about shame, vulnerability and I was like, oh, this is like speaking to my soul a little bit here and it was wonderful, so I'd recommend if anybody's looking for some soul searching. Brene Brown is wonderful. I watched her Ted talk too, so I could kind of understand how she got her fame to start and, yeah, it's fantastic.

Speaker 1:

Oh, she's amazing. I've read a lot of hers. I actually just got Daring Greatly and have not started it yet. I got it at a library sale because some of her books have been out for a while so they are easy to find secondhand or in half-priced books, those kinds of places. I actually was watching a Netflix special of Brene Brown, maybe a year ago, maybe a little longer and my husband thought I was watching a comedian, which he asked me about because it's not usually my thing to watch comedians alone on TV. That would be pretty atypical. Alone on TV, that would be pretty atypical. And he said what? Who? Which comedian is this good that you are just in here cracking up watching it alone? And I said, oh, it's not really a comedian, she's a shame and vulnerability researcher. And he looked at me like I was losing my mind because why are you laughing that much? She's so good. Her delivery is spot on. She's a fellow texan, so I have to support her for that.

Speaker 2:

she's amazing yeah, I love her storytelling. It is and it just um. You can relate so much to how she describes things that I I really enjoyed. I enjoy everything that I've read so far of hers and the TED talk I watched too. I'll have to look at. You said it was on Netflix.

Speaker 1:

Yes, it was on Netflix. It has been a little bit of time so you know how they move things on and off, but if you search Brene Brown, it used to be there. I guess I can check Before I post this. I'll try to check and put it in the show notes if it is still there, but it she's amazing and if you can find the old copy of it anywhere she's hysterical and I agree there's so much to learn there and a shocking I don't know the statistic offhand.

Speaker 1:

I've heard it before, actually on a podcast, that it is a shockingly small percentage of people who ever read a single non-fiction book after college. But she is nonfiction, which, for anyone listening who can't quite remember, nonfiction is more factual. Fiction is a made up story. Nonfiction is based on facts or research or history or memoir is also considered nonfiction, but she's a nonfiction person who is still so relatable and so interesting.

Speaker 1:

I read a lot of fiction these days and I think for anyone who is trying to get back into reading, I think a little accountability can go a long way. I joined a book club this year and really enjoyed it, and there's lots of those online If you are not necessarily in an area that has one, or you don't know that your friends read. That's also another option to think about as the mom. If you want to do an online book club, there's tons of book talkers and book tubers and the TikTok, the YouTube, the Instagram all of them have lots of book suggestions. So if you are looking for inspiration for yourself, I really recommend that because it's fun and I think again, again, like you were saying, the more our kids see us reading and enjoying it authentically, the more we're passing down that authentic, because our kids see what we do.

Speaker 1:

If we're like you should go read and then we're plastered to our phones on social media, they know like you don't do that, ladies. So I think it is awesome. As much as we can and I know everyone's busy or even listening to it on Audible. However, you can work it into your life. I think reading can be so enriching and a really nice break too Just, you know, a mental break from your day. So I think that's what stories are.

Speaker 2:

They are, and I was actually going to say what you just said. When your children are seeing you read at least for me, I feel a little less guilty when they're like wanting to get my attention I'm sitting there reading than if I'm sitting there playing on social media or responding to emails. And I'm just waiting for the day where I'm sitting there reading and they want my attention and they just grab a book and they come snuggle up next to me. It hasn't happened yet, but I think one day, if that continues, they see, oh, mom's reading or dad's got a book too. It's like, oh, I'll just grab my book and sit on the couch with them and read, and then we'll have family reading time sometime.

Speaker 1:

Yeah it definitely happens, and sometimes I bait my kids to read more with me by saying they can stay up late and we all get our shower and snuggle in our PJs in bed reading and it's really fun. I recommend, if you are into that as a family, it can be really fun and I think too, it's interesting. My husband reads much less than I do and much more slowly, and even someone's having authentic conversations around, that of daddy and I. Both read daddy's a little bit slower. He doesn't do it as much. Mommy reads more.

Speaker 1:

It's like there's not a right or wrong and we don't have to label everything as good or bad. We are all reading in our own way and just like you guys can read in your own way right, because we do it's like back to that idea of pressure. They feel like they have to be fast and they have to be efficient and they have to do it as quicker than their friend did or whatever, and sometimes having the whole family helps normalize that. It's different for everyone, so I agree.

Speaker 1:

Well, reading is clearly one of the things that brings me pleasure, but we like to ask every guest on the show what brings them pleasure. If you are a new listener. We ask everyone for a petite plaisir, which is French for a simple pleasure or a little luxury, and it's just something small that brings a tangible moment of joy or happiness to your day, and we like to take inspiration from our guests to know how can we add a little bit more joy and intention to our day in a way that is easy to achieve. So what is something that you're enjoying right now?

Speaker 2:

That one's easy for me. So I learned, probably after my second was born, that I needed more me time and the only way I felt that I was able to get it is if I woke up just a little bit earlier than them. I'm not a morning person and I have made myself a morning person because I am a much happier person, a much better mom, a much better wife. If I get just a little bit of time in the morning to myself to sit with my coffee and, ideally read Like if I get 15 minutes to read a book I am so calm and refreshed for my day that I can be more present with everybody else.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I can really do that. I typically do it right after school drop off. I take a few minutes to make my coffee and enjoy it before I dive into work when the house is empty. But if that's not an option because your kids are still home with you, I agree that that little bit of time can make a huge difference. And if anyone listening is feeling unsure about how their kid is doing, or they know that maybe they can benefit from some additional support, how can they connect with you and learn more about the resources you offer?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so you can find me at growinginliteracycom or on Facebook and Instagram at Growing in Literacy, and I have resources for parents on alphabet, and I'm working right now on something I'm calling the Roots of Reading program, focusing on those foundational skills that kids need in order to become successful readers in the future. I have part one. I'm going to be releasing part two in the next few weeks, so if you follow me on Facebook, if you sign up for my email list, you'll be the first to know when that new one comes out, and the final two of the series as well.

Speaker 1:

All right. Well, that sounds fantastic. I'm sure people can relate to me when I say I know how to read, but I don't remember how I learned how to read and I don't know what a diphthong is and all those different phonetic things. So sometimes you just need some resources ready to go if you are trying to help support your kids, and I know we all are in all the different ways. So thank you so much for being here and I hope everyone has a great rest of their day.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, Elizabeth.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for joining me today on Never Too Festive. I hope you are leaving feeling inspired and refreshed. If you've loved what you've heard, don't keep it to yourself. Share this podcast with a friend who could use a little extra sparkle in her life. And hey, while you're at it, why not leave a review on your favorite podcast platform? Your feedback helps us continue to grow and inspire more women like you have questions or feedback you want to share directly with me? Simply click the link in the show notes to send me a text. I'd love to hear from you until next time. Remember, all we have is today, so let's choose to live our most fabulous, joyful life together.