Reading Journals: Why and How to Create One
Does your child struggle to, or simply want to, keep track of their reading adventures?—The list of books they have read and intend to read? The number of pages they aim to read each week? Their favorite quotes and passages? The themes and deeper messages that stuck out to them? If you answered yes to some or all of these questions, then your child should create and maintain a reading journal!
Why should my child keep a reading journal?
Reading journals are a place for your child to keep track of what they’ve read and store ideas in the midst of reading. They help your child better remember what they’ve read, appreciate the work of fiction or nonfiction more, and help them pay attention to details, thus improving their reading skills.
A reading journal can serve any purpose that your child would like. There are no hard and fast rules for keeping a reading journal. But below are some general tips for how your child might structure their own reading journal and how to make the best use of it.
Steps to develop a reading journal
1. Pick out a journal.
The journal does not have to be anything fancy. Your child can use a blank journal they received as a gift a while back but haven’t yet used, they can scour their local thrift store for an unused journal or notebook, or they can purchase a notebook or journal for the very purpose of making it their reading journal. (I like the Moleskin Cahier Journal*, which comes in a three-pack, because they are lightweight yet durable, have a pocket in the back, and can be decorated to your child’s liking.) Whichever your child chooses, make sure the journal is easy to carry around and able to accommodate the way your child likes to organize their thoughts.
2. Decide what to include in the journal.
What your child chooses to include depends on their purpose for keeping a reading journal. Your child may include sections for: creating a calendar with their reading goals, jotting down their favorite quotes, and/or making note of a reaction they had to a specific sentence or excerpt. Your child may also use the journal to note pages numbers of paragraphs or chapters they’d like to revisit, paraphrase claims worth remembering, and/or write down how their opinion has changed on a matter because of what they’ve read.
3. Decide how the journal will be structured.
Encourage your child to be as creative as they want when structuring their reading journal. They may just want to write down their thoughts as they come, jumping back and forth between quotes and excerpts to remember and general impressions of the book. Or they may want to partition their journal by using tabs or page dividers so that each section listed above has a dedicated area. How your child structures their journal all comes down to preference; however, help them to ensure the journal will be useful and that their written thoughts are easy to retrieve.
Dive into a book!
With a reading journal in hand, your child is ready to make the most of what they read. Writing down their thoughts will help them more easily remember what they’ve read and help them appreciate what the author has presented to them, even if it wasn’t their favorite book or they didn’t agree with them.
If you want more on this topic, consider purchasing the full guide from our shop. If you want this blog in a downloadable format, click here to access our DIY reading journal tip sheet. If you want a ready-made reading journal kit, check out these two options: available here and here.
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