Reading as a family builds a solid foundation for independent reading as your children get older. Read on to learn how we encourage independent reading at home and print your own reading punchcard bookmark for kids!
Because I want to pass along my love for reading to my son, I began reading to him at a young age. I read more than books, too. Reading aloud is fun – especially when the topics are engaging and teach your child something. Children can learn a lot about the world we live in by hearing parents read magazines, newspapers and even the back of cereal boxes.
Learning to read is so important, that’s why I am so excited to see that Kellogg’s is a proud sponsor of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. Every day, Kellogg employees work together to fulfill their vision of enriching and delighting the world through foods and brands that matter. The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is celebrating over 20 years of helping individuals learn to read, prepare for their high school equivalency, or learn English. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than $140 million to nonprofit organizations and schools that have helped more than 9 million individuals advance their literacy and basic education skills.
We’re about six weeks into the school year and daily reading is part of the required home enjoyment for Third Grade. Getting my son to complete the 30 minutes of reading each day was a bit of a challenge until I designed these fun reading punchcard bookmarks.
We break up the reading into two 15-minute sessions per day. Most days, my son reads in the morning after breakfast and while I am preparing dinner at night. I designed these reading punchcard bookmarks to have ten spaces to track each 15-minute increment of weekday reading.
Each time he completes 15-minutes of reading, we punch one apple on the bookmark. If you don’t have a hole punch, you can check it off with a marker or use a sticker. Once he fills four bookmarks, we head to the bookstore for a new book! This reward system has worked out so well for our family!
To get started, simply print the bookmarks onto regular printer paper and cut them using a paper cutter to ensure the bookmark is straight. If your kids tend to be hard on their books and bookmarks, you may wish to use a heavier weight paper like cardstock. But, standard printer paper has worked great for us!
If you want to make your punchcard bookmark fancier, you could punch a hole in the top and add a ribbon to the bookmark.
Once your children move into upper elementary school grades, you may want to have them write about what they’ve read. This is a great way to see what they find interesting in a story and to track their comprehension. Have your child use this printable weekly reading log to tell you about what they’ve read.
With fun bookmarks and an cool sheet to track their progress, your children will want to read more!