Home Design to Encourage Reading and Writing

How we design and organize the spaces in our homes can encourage and foster reading and writing.

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In this post, I share how our spaces can motivate our kids to spend more time reading and writing.

When I was a classroom teacher, I was very thoughtful about how I set up my classroom. I wanted to make sure that I made spaces that helped students be successful. I made sure students had access to all of the materials they would need and that they could use specific spaces for specific reasons. Desks and tables were available for writing and completing collaborative projects. Soft seating was available in the library area for children to curl up with a good book.

According to Lindsey Moses and Meredith Ogden, authors and educators, “a thoughtful environment can shape the way children participate, collaborate, and learn. Purposeful environmental design helps nurture and foster independence.” (p. 12, What Are the Rest of My Kids Doing?)

One of the things that we love most about our home are the wall to wall bookcases in the kid’s playroom. As a former teacher and reading specialist (and collector of books) I knew that we would need a great deal of space for books and this is ideal. As we design spaces for our children, I try to be just as intentional setting up spaces in our home as I was when I was designing the learning environment in my classroom.

Since we love reading and I want my children to have access to books, we have bookcases all over our home. In addition to the wall to wall book cases in our playroom, the kids each have bookcases and book bins in their rooms. Thankfully, many of the book bins, baskets, and bookcases have been great Christmas and birthday gifts for my kids.

The books in their bookcases and bins rotate based on what they are interested in at the time. From time to time, we will do a big book swap by emptying out all of their books in their room and trading them out with books from the playroom bookshelves. This is always a task, but always so fun. Not only do the kids read new books, they are also reminded of books they may have forgotten about. Just like anything else, we typically pay attention to the same things and forget about other options. This activity helps us organize and reminds us of some of the great books we have.

We also have a rotating basket in the playroom that is filled with books reflecting the kid’s current interests or the current time of year. For example, in October the basket is filled with our Halloween books and fall favorites.

Our seasonal basket is similar to the featured shelves in most book stores: a reminder of new and familiar reads to enjoy.

One of the gifts our daughter received one Christmas was an easel which we used a great deal for making words with magnetic letters. She loves to spell out familiar names and words she knows. It is also great for storage. Here is a similar easel with all of the same features.

One of the best bookcases in our house is the small bookcase in our breakfast room by our back door. This bookcase contains family favorites and is easily accessible downstairs. The kids will often grab a book when they have finished eating or if I am cooking in the kitchen. This bookcase also allows my kids to grab a book on their way out of the door. We love to have books in the car and if we are in place where we might have to wait like restaurants, doctor’s offices, or a sibling’s sports practice.

We have some awesome book bins from Lakeshore that fit perfectly between their seats in my car. (Click here for a similar option.) These bins contain things like books, their boogie boards, Water Wows, and journals. Since we have the bookshelf by the back door, the kids can easily change out their books in the car. To learn more about making car trips more educational, check out this post.

In addition to bookshelves throughout the house, we also have tables with materials readily available for art and writing projects. Having access to the space and having supplies easily available encourages the kids to express themselves through art and writing and it minimizes distractions when they begin a task. My daughter loves art so we have experimented with many ways to organize her supplies and we are constantly working through materials to keep and materials to discard. (At six, everything seems precious making the cleaning out process a little challenging)

Check out this post and video about how we organize one of our tables.

We try our best to make spaces to encourage reading and writing in our home. We want our kids to have access to the materials they need to be successful. We also want them to be able to work on things with increasing independence. Most importantly, we want them to enjoy reading, writing, and creating. As shared in a previous post, there are four major factors in your child’s reading and writing motivation. Modeling, time, choice, and talk. When thinking about arranging spaces to support reading and writing in your home, think about spaces where you can:

– model reading and writing

– provide your child time and space

– offer choices like bookshelves with multiple books and desks or tables with as many material choices as possible

– talk with your child about what they are reading or what they are working on (Again, we love snuggling into my daughter’s couch to share thoughts and ideas about her reading and writing)

Children “are more productive and independent when they are in comfortable spaces” (Moses & Ogden, p. 19).

As we think about arranging spaces, remember that these spaces can also serve as a cue for your child. For example, if you always choose to read in a certain space (like our daughter’s couch) then your child will begin to associate that space with that particular activity. The power of a cue is huge. One of my favorite books is the Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. I appreciate his explanation of how so many of our actions are driven by habits that begin with a cue. So, I encourage you to offer your child some productive and encouraging cues that support their reading and writing experiences.

Please leave a comment and let us know about spaces in your home that encourage reading and writing. As my kids get older and have different needs and interests, we will continue to change out their spaces so that they can be productive and have access to what they need so I always appreciate new ideas (especially ones that will help us stay organized).

References:

Moses, L. & Ogden, M. (2017). What are the rest of my kids doing? . Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH.