Most parents read a lot of books to their kids when they’re young, before they can read for themselves. In due time, children grow and begin reading on their own. Â And somewhere along the way, children begin reading books that their parents have not.
Most of us are pretty busy once kids come along regardless of whether we work in or outside of the home. Trying to do all of the things that support a household doesn’t leave a lot of time to vicariously attend school with our kids by reading their books. And the reality of sharing a physical book means that we won’t get a shot at it until they’ve finished it and moved on and perhaps lost interest.
As I’m already under orders not to add any more stuff to our cluttered abode, having multiple copies of physical books isn’t acceptable either, not to mention the expense. Given these challenges, I hadn’t thought much about solutions until I happened upon Gothic Charm School. I found it discounted at my local Borders store closing sale and thought my goth inclined daughter would like it. And flipping through the pages I thought I’d enjoy it as well, so later I bought an eBook version of it to read on my Nook. The eBook wasn’t very expensive and, of course, took up no more space in my house!
Since that time, I’ve added The Giver and Masters of Doom to my parallel reads. It’s really been quite enjoyable having something common and interesting to share with the kids. Not only that, I feel like new life has been breathed into my own ongoing education.
Even with the added expense, I would encourage all parents to parallel read with their kids. eReaders and a growing library of eBooks have made this easier than ever before. And just imagine the look of shock on your child’s face when you threaten to release them if they don’t clean up their room! (Just kidding of course. Release is not something to joke about!)