One of the best gifts you can give your child is a love of books. My husband and I always loved books, and we wanted our children to feel the same way. We used the traditional ways to help our children become book lovers along with some help from Montessori.
How We Helped Our Children Learn to Treasure Books
- We read to our children … a lot.
- Our children saw us reading and enjoying reading.
- Our house was filled with books. Of course, it’s not necessary to have as many books as we did, but we were book collectors who loved having walls lined with bookcases.
- We gave books as gifts every birthday and Christmas.
- We visited bookstores often, and our children enjoyed spending lots of time in the children’s section. As adults, they both say they have fond memories of our visits to bookstores.
- We participated in library story times.
- We participated in library summer reading programs and activities.
- We valued books, and we taught our children to take care of books from a very young age.
- We used Montessori phonics and language activities to make learning to read an easy process.
- We used unit studies with living books instead of textbooks in our homeschooling.
Montessori Presentations to Help Children Learn to Take Care of Books
I used a Montessori presentation to show my children how to open and close a book gently when they were just toddlers.
Montessori Primary Guide has a presentation for Opening and Closing a Book.
Video – How to Open a Book Montessori Lesson
What has helped your child learn to treasure books?
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I'm Deb Chitwood. My header photo models are my children, Christina, at 1 1/2, my son, Will, at 3, and Christina again at 16. Christina is now 22, and Will is 27. Please see the 
Love this! We are book-crazy…obsessed?
One the first things we try to teach our children is a love of books/reading/being read to. It’s working!
Sara R. recently posted..Oceans and Seas Part 2 (mammals of the sea)
Thanks, Sara! My family is definitely book-crazy, too … one of the best obsessions to have, I think!
Deb recently posted..Simple Tips for Organizing Your Homeschool Library
[...] My husband and I were book lovers, so we collected more books than anything else. You can read more about our book-loving family in my post from two days ago: How to Help Your Child Treasure Books. [...]
I have been reading to my daughter since birth and she loves books… more than toys! So thankful for that.
Jenni Mullinix recently posted..Connecting with Your Spouse
Thanks for your comment, Jenni! That is awesome to hear!
Deb recently posted..Simple Tips for Organizing Your Homeschool Library
We love books in our home also, and enjoy “real” books for unit studies and such. The Montessori approach is so encouraging to younger children in teaching them to be gentle and respectful to items. Thanks for this insightful post.
Thanks, Demetria! It’s awesome that you’re book lovers, too … and that you enjoy “real” books for unit studies!
Deb recently posted..Montessori Monday – Montessori-Inspired Kindergarten Readiness Activities
I love these tips. They reflect the ways my mother instilled a loving of reading in me and my brother, and that I am hoping to instill it in my son. He loves his books and the other night he told me that he loves letters. It made me so happy. When I had my baby shower, my friend that hosted it asked people to bring a children’s book with a note in it instead of a card. I loved that idea. We also have some very special books at our house that aren’t available to the boys all the time – I think this helps them cherish books and treasure reading. http://jennifischer.blogspot.com/2012/05/books-as-heirlooms-100-childrens-book.html
Jen Fischer recently posted..Learning with Pom-Poms: Color Matching and Early Literacy
What a great idea for a baby shower, Jen! I love books as heirlooms. I pinned your post to my Literature-Based Activities Board at http://pinterest.com/debchitwood/literature-based-activities/
Deb recently posted..Montessori Monday – Montessori-Inspired Kindergarten Readiness Activities
[...] I have a post about helping your child develop a love of books along with Montessori presentations for teaching your child to take care of books: How to Help Your Child Treasure Books. [...]