Reading to Differently Aged Children at the Same Time

Unless you have twins or children quite close in age, you might find it difficult to read to both of them at the same time. My boys are four years apart (Kiddo is almost 6 and New Kid is almost 2) and they are on very different reading levels, not to mention their ability to sit still!

Books gracing our dining table.

If your youngest is a baby, it's easy to sit the baby on your lap, give him something to chew on, or as I used to do, nurse him, while you read to your oldest child. But as that baby becomes a toddler, things get a wee more difficult (to put it mildly).

New Kid is very demanding of attention, it is impossible to sit down and read with Kiddo if there is not another parent in the apartment to keep him busy. Plus Kiddo is not appreciative of having his reading time interrupted by his brother's demands for me to read the same page over and over again (one of New Kid's most delightful qualities). If I limited my reading time with Kiddo to his brother's naptime or bedtime our time would be limited indeed.

To spend more time reading with both boys I have developed a couple of strategies:

1. Read during mealtimes. That's right. You may not like this idea if you have family dinners every night. However, my husband always gets home on weekdays after dinner, so it is just me and the boys at the table five nights a week. But if your children are home with you during the day, how about lunchtime?  I let the boys take turns choosing picture books and I read them while they eat. New Kid doesn't mind that Kiddo's books are over his head, he is just enjoying the company and his dinner. If he gets bored, he just throws his food around. I can handle that.  When do I eat? Hmmm, maybe I should market this as a diet strategy.

2. Always ask the older child to join you and the younger child. I always, always invite Kiddo to join us on the couch when I am reading to New Kid. He doesn't always want to but more often than not he comes over. I am sure to sit them on either side of me or there is a lot of shoving, pushing and complaining. But he joins us because... kids love picture books, even books that are supposedly "too young for them." Don't underestimate the power of an excellent picture book. Last night, I was reading Donald Crews' brilliant School Bus, a book with simple graphics and an even simpler text and Kiddo liked it just as much as his younger brother.

3. Let the older child choose books for the younger child. New Kid gets to choose books all day long while his brother is at school, but if Kiddo wants to join us on the couch (see #2) I let him pick out the "baby" books, as he calls them. Although, clearly, they are not just for babies.  It's hard for older kids when many activities must conform to the needs of the youngest. This way Kiddo can take more ownership in an activity involving his brother. He also knows which "older kid" picture books his brother will tolerate, which brings me to strategy #4...

4. Make sure to have lots of picture books on a mutually loved topic. In our case it is transportation: trucks, trains, cars, boats. You get the idea. Although Gail Gibbons' Trains is slightly advanced for New Kid's comprehension and Kiddo can take on more advanced books, they both still love it. The same is true for the marvelous Subway, and many similar books. This strategy may result in fights over who gets the book once you are done reading, so be prepared.

Let's be honest, not everything works all the time. Kids are fickle, one days they love peanut butter, the next day it is the grossest thing in the world. These reading strategies don't work every single time, but they help. In the end, ensuring your kids see that you value family reading by making an effort to read to them to together will always pay off.

What strategies for family reading do you have?