Way back when Xander was a toddler, I did a 1500 Book Reading Challenge. The idea was to read 1500 books with him over the course of the year. I thought it was a fun and beneficial challenge (research suggests reading to kids improves their brain development, vocabulary and academic success). 1500 books means a LOT of exposure to words, books and cuddle time! I made the challenge just that much harder for myself by choosing to do 1500 unique books (so reading the same ones again and again didn't count towards the goal). It works out to slightly over 4 new books a day, so we made lots of trips to the library!
I have decided 2020 is the time to do the challenge with Archer! I'd love for others to join along (#1500BookChallenge)! If you just want to read 1500 books, I think a tally would probably be the easiest way to keep track. However, if you want to do unique books, I made a spreadsheet where I can write the books we read each week and it will count them. You're welcome to copy this template (Google Sheets) to keep track for your little one.
With Xander, I updated periodically with some of our favorite book finds, so will probably do something similar this go round. I'm open to suggestions as to whether it should be on the blog or somewhere on social media.
So I'll admit, I have a book buying problem. I've been collecting books, particularly non-fiction books, since before Xander was born. Garage sales, book fairs and book orders mean I can stretch my money, plus he always asks for books for his birthday and Christmas. That means we have a lot of them.
When Xander was a toddler, we did a 1500 book challenge, where we read 1500 unique books in one year. I enjoyed the challenge, and knowing that he was being exposed to a huge number of words. Now that our library has grown up a little, I decided to do an updated challenge with him.
A while back I posted about how our books are organized and how we use Libib to catalogue them online. With the website, I printed an Excel Spreadsheet of all of our books and printed one very long list. The goal is for him to read all of the books he owns in 2018. (He has roughly 1100 books logged). This challenge includes both board books he'll read to his future sibling, as well as his chapter books (which should provide more of a challenge to the timeframe). I excluded his encyclopedias, though.
I put his list on a clipboard and included a little box for him to check them off as he goes. I think finding the books on the list will be good practice with alphabetical order. He can also highlight them if he wants.
I'm looking forward to the challenge and seeing if he accomplishes it! I'll let you know what happens!
Back in January I decided we would do a 1500 Book Challenge. The goal was to read 1500 unique books within a year, and this past weekend, we finished! We actually read much more than 1500 if you consider all the re-reads. I am so glad we decided to do it. We found some great books that we probably would not have otherwise. At the same time, I am glad we are done! It is more challenging than you would think to keep track of which books you have read and which you haven't. I will still probably keep track til the end of the year, just to see how many we end up reading, but will definitely be relaxed about it.
It is also amazing to me to think back to January. I still had a pretty young little guy to read to. Now he is two and reads a lot of the words with me! Before I know it, he will be reading the books to me (maybe we should do another book challenge then!). Now I just have to figure out what we should do to celebrate. Any ideas?
Hooray! We have officially read 750 unique books toward our 1500 Book Challenge! That means we are halfway and just slightly ahead of schedule! Now that I am on summer break it should be a little easier. The challenge is still finding the books. We end up getting about 20 books from the library each week. I have to look for books that he will sit and listen to (he mostly prefers nonfiction) and books that we haven't already read. I still haven't decided on how we will celebrate completing the challenge, but I am kind of hoping we can do it early so that it doesn't fall right at the holidays.
Back in January I stared out 1500 Book Challenge, and am excited to give an update! We are officially a quarter of the way to 1500 unique books! Wednesday we hit our 375 mark. I have to say, it really has been a challenge. Not actually reading the books, but sourcing them. I end up at the library twice a week and have to remember what have already brought home. Anyway, I am super excited.
I would like to do something as a celebration of completing the challenge. I know I have a long time, but am starting to think about it. Originally, I was thinking of taking him to an indoor water park. However, now that he has the tubes in his ears, that doesn't seem like the greatest idea. I doubt they will be out by the time we finish the challenge. I suppose I could get some big toy I wouldn't normally purchase (like the big set of Magna Tiles that I want but can't see paying for). Does anyone have any other ideas?
Late last spring, when I fist became fascinated (obsessed) with early education, I ran across a lot of bloggers doing a 1500 book challenge. Since Xander was so young, I couldn't really participate. I haven't seen anyone doing it yet this year, but have decided to go ahead and try for the 1500 books.
The challenge part of the equation, is that the goal is to read 1500 unique books. Each book only counts once, no matter how many times you read it. Now we are lucky enough to have a lot of books, but no where near that many! To complete the task in a year, we need to read about 28 new books a week, or 4 new books a day. That is going to involve a LOT of trips to the library. I have decided not to count any books we listen to from Tumble Books, because I really want to encourage real books and not more screen time.
The additional challenge will be that Xander now likes to make his own decisions. He LOVES books and loves to be read to, but he has a few books in each room that are his favorites. He wants these over and over (I have a surprising number memorized). In fact, he will not sit in my lap to hear a new story unless it involves a lot of animal noises or happens to be one of the Preschool Prep Sight Words Books. Luckily, we have found a work around. Xander likes to be read to while having his snack or in the tub and doesn't mind new or longer books in these situations. In fact, he gets really upset with me when I stop reading, even if it is to get him more food or wash his hair. He does the sign for "more" and "book" and babbles emphatically at me until I continue reading.
I have an Excel file to keep track of the books we read and we were doing incredibly well at just over 100 books since January 1st. Unfortunately, we had massive computer problems and that was the one file that was lost for good. Luckily, it is early in the year and we can recover. Also, I know that the pace we had set isn't a pace we will keep up. We will still probably read just as many books, but right now all of the "favorites" and all of the books we own are getting counted. Very soon we will have read all of our regulars, they just won't count towards our 1500 anymore.
I am excited to see how the year goes with this challenge. In 1500 books, I am sure to find some really great books I never would have read otherwise. We have already discovered some great series at the libraries. On the other hand, we have already read some that I didn't think were worth our time. I am going to have to mark the ones we really like to come back to in the future.
