UPDATE: My kids don't read anymore!

I made a post this summer how my then 13 yo hadn't read all summer while my 11 yo had only read one book. I got some suggestions how to increase their reading and decided to try family reading. Then 13 yo was up for it and wanted her and I to read the same book. She suggested Into thin Air by Jon Krakauer so we each got a copy at the library. This took a couple of weeks by the way (books weren't in) so the days had already become colder and darker by the time we were ready to read. It wasn't possible to find time when entire family could or wanted to sit and read together so 13 yo and I simply found time that we could and then we turned off all lights and lit a fire and candles in the living room. It was cozy but I kept getting interrupted by my younger kids who wanted help with homework or to tell me about their game or what not. 13 yo got annoyed and decided to buy an hourglass (we don't have a clock in the living room) and we told her siblings and my wife that when hourglass is on is our devoted reading time so unless it is an emergency whatever is on their mind can wait. It worked. They'd silently walk in and look whether the hourglass had ran out or not before interrupting. At first the little ones would cuddle up on my lap while waiting and soon they'd get bored and go and get their own book to read. We've now had a couple sessions that the younger kids have joined us and they seem to really love it. After my 13 yo and I had finished Into thin Air we passed them on to the younger kids as we thought they might like them (and they did). 13 yo and I next read The Amish Widower which I picked as I thought my 13 yo might like it but wouldn't have picked it herself. My wife was also up for this one so we could discuss it all three while reading it. Third book we read daughter picked: The Red Dragon (precedes The Silence of the Lambs) and she loved it and now wants to read the rest of the Hannibal Lecter books.That's it. We haven't read 10 or even 5 books but we read 3 books and had some very cozy times together. And as the days get even darker I think we will read even more. Probably quite a lot during Christmas break. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2zDWS3E