{"id":107650,"date":"2025-12-24T13:21:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T13:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/107650\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T13:21:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T13:21:08","slug":"why-the-holidays-are-the-perfect-time-for-kids-to-read-and-how-families-can-make-it-fun-together-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/107650\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the holidays are the perfect time for kids to read, and how families can make it fun together \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

With schools out for winter break, San Diego literacy experts say the time away from school and with family is an ideal time for children to build a strong foundation for lifelong reading habits.<\/p>\n

The key is getting kids motivated, and experts consulted by The San Diego Union-Tribune shared tips for fun, engaging ways families can do that with readers of all ages.<\/p>\n

It can be especially motivating for younger children to spend time reading with grandparents, neighbors or older siblings and cousins, says Allison Ohle, the executive director of the Diamond Educational Excellence Partnership, a program by community groups to improve outcomes for public school students in\u00a0southeastern San Diego.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf reading is a family activity, and it\u2019s something that happens on the laps of people who love you,\u201d she said, \u201cyou build a positive association with the habit and the activity of reading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reading also creates topics for conversation within your family, and helps young readers build empathy by discussing the motivations of characters in books.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re talking about what\u2019s happening in the stories,\u201d Ohle added. \u201cYou\u2019re talking about people\u2019s feelings in the stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also offers parents and other relatives the chance to give children targeted support in areas they\u2019re struggling, whether that\u2019s in reading \u2014 like comprehension or sounding out words \u2014 or in social and emotional development.<\/p>\n

\u201cEngaging your child in any kind of patient and slow activity, which reading is, (helps) build mental muscles that are really critical for patience, emotional self-regulation, relating to other people, mental health \u2014 all that stuff,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"RaquelRaquel Rosenthal of the Trinity Theatre Company reads \u201cThe Littlest Reindeer\u201d to children at the Children\u2019s Library at the San Diego Central Library on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Hayne Palmour IV \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\nGet the whole family involved<\/p>\n

One key to keeping your family\u2019s habit sustainable: Make sure kids see the adults in their lives reading regularly, too.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one of the big goals of the San Diego Public Library\u2019s winter reading challenge, explains Emily Derry, the library\u2019s supervising librarian for youth and family services. The challenge is for readers of all ages, because they want to make sure adults keep reading, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they\u2019re reading and their kids are seeing them reading, then they\u2019re more likely to become lifelong readers themselves,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter what language you or your kids are reading in, or how strong a reader you are \u2014 just the practice reading is valuable, experts say.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reading in any language builds literacy skills, Derry notes. Adults who are learning English can learn alongside their children as they go through picture books. And adults who aren\u2019t strong readers themselves can still help kids learn by making up stories based on pictures, Ohle adds.<\/p>\n

\"MeierMeier Neal, who came to the San Diego Central Library with her parents from Poway to celebrate her eighth birthday, looks at children\u2019s books with her mother Danielle Neal at the San Diego Central Library on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Hayne Palmour IV \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

And if a child is interested in a book too advanced for their reading level, don\u2019t steer them away from it \u2014 that\u2019s a great opportunity for you or another relative to read to them, says Terri King Hunt, the director of impact and learning at Just Right Reader, a company that makes books designed for literacy development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a lot of power in reading aloud to children,\u201d she explains. \u201cIt builds vocabulary and builds background knowledge \u2014 which is very, very key in helping students be able to comprehend what they read.\u201d<\/p>\n

Make reading fun<\/p>\n

To get young children associating books with fun, store their board books with their other toys, encouraging them to treat reading as an activity like any other, suggests Stephanie Contreras, a literacy analyst with the San Diego Public Library\u2019s READ\/San Diego literacy instruction service.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet kids just looking at books the same way they would look at their Barbie dolls or anything else,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Some of the library\u2019s own events do something similar. For instance, this Saturday at 10:30 a.m., it\u2019s hosting a storytime and craft hour<\/a> at the Central Library.
\n\"AA young girl looks at a book at the Children\u2019s Library at the San Diego Central Library on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Hayne Palmour IV \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)\n<\/p>\n

Make going to the library a fun activity of its own, too \u2014 and let kids pick out books on their own, advises Mandy Perry, a family literacy assistant at the library.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake them to the library,\u201d she said. \u201cThey will explore.\u201d<\/p>\n

For instance, Perry recently discovered one of her young daughters likes cookbooks. She\u2019ll read the books with her parents and make bookmarks for the recipes she wants to cook. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll read it together and learn, like, math and literacy, all together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Create a game<\/p>\n

Short of reading books and newspapers, there are plenty of other activities that will help develop reading skills. Experts who spoke with the Union-Tribune recommended a few.<\/p>\n

If kids are into carols or poems like \u201cA Visit from St. Nicholas,\u201d those will help develop their reading skills, too. That\u2019s because rhyming and singing are important to building phonological awareness, explains Ohle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

King Hunt plays a game with her family where everyone, adults included, tries to read in the most places in a day, in something like a scavenger hunt \u2014 at the kitchen table, under the table, in the bathroom, under a blanket.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, kids are in a competition to see if they can beat Mom and Dad in all of the places that they read,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no need to limit those games to time at home.<\/p>\n

When you eat at a restaurant, make the meal a reading game \u2014 have your kids find all the letters of their name on the menu, Ohle suggests. When you take your kids grocery shopping, have them identify what sound each item starts with, and what letter is associated with it.<\/p>\n

\"AstridAstrid Pett, left, and Sophia Seafidi of the Trinity Theatre Company act out \u201cThe Littlest Reindeer\u201d for children at the San Diego Central Library on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Hayne Palmour IV \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re traveling for the holidays, create a game from what you see along the roadside: Have kids try to find and point out all the letters in the alphabet, in order, on signs while you\u2019re in the car or on a train or bus. That\u2019s a game Ohle says she still plays with her kids, even now that they\u2019re in college.<\/p>\n

And make an activity of writing holiday cards to friends and family \u2014 and of course thank-you notes for the gifts they receive.<\/p>\n

Develop sustainable habits<\/p>\n

Especially with young children, it\u2019s important to make reading a habit, one that you carve out dedicated time for, experts told the Union-Tribune.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a certain day, at a certain time, we\u2019re just going to sit down and read,\u201d said Nancy Sasaki, the president and chief executive of United Way of San Diego County. Her organization\u2019s\u00a0United for Literacy initiative aims to help kids acquire literacy skills.<\/p>\n

Having a scheduled routine means the reading will happen, and kids know not to expect to do something else during that time, adds King Hunt.<\/p>\n

But that habit should be something that works for the whole family. Her own family is going on a cruise over the holidays, and on vacation, they might average just a page or two a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to say we\u2019re going to read every day for 30 minutes,\u201d she said. \u201cThat is not realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With schools out for winter break, San Diego literacy experts say the time away from school and with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[15,181,23,100,74,76,75,1696],"class_list":{"0":"post-107650","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-education","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-san-diego-headlines","14":"tag-san-diego-news","15":"tag-top-stories-sdut"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}