Moms (and Teachers too) Show 'em What to Do

Kids and over-eating are all over the news. A couple days ago the “Wall Street Journal” published an article with the not-so earth-shattering news that what Moms do and not what they say affect what daughters do.

The point being that when Mom says “You can’t have candy” and then chows down on a box of Godiva chocolates, her daughter’s gonna eat chocolate too. Good grief, even my Grandma knew this.

And what does this have to do with that most basic of brain-based learning strategies, Reading? It’s same principle. They imitate us.

Why should kids want to read, master reading, or find books interesting if Mom isn’t reading? As we as a society read less and less—fewer newspaper subscribers, fewer magazine subscribers, fewer folks at the library—our kids are just copying our behavior. No wonder it seems harder to teach them to read.

And then we whine when reading scores go down.

Parent Tip, Teacher Strategy: Grab a book or a magazine or even The National Enquirer and read it in plain view of your kids. Model reading and they’ll read too—if they don’t faint first!

P.S. Watch my blog for news about an upcoming free TeleChat to help you help kids read—at school and at home.