Are you Qualified to be a Volunteer Reader?

The short story is this - if you love all children and can read, then you are qualified!

It is my belief that the real magic of reading with children is the actual time spent with them: giving them special attention, doing something fun together, letting kids tell their stories, and showing them love.

I think a similar analogy is holding premature infants in the hospital. The children are being loved the way that they need at that age. Anyone who loves children can do that service. Now the children are older, but they still need to be nourished, appreciated, inspired, and loved. Even if you mess up while reading a book, that doesn’t matter. Its not about how well you read the book. It’s about the love that you show to the children in the process.

I admit, I personally have some imposter syndrome when reading with children. Being new at this probably contributes to it. I expect my confidence will improve with time.

Perhaps due to my imposter syndrome, it feels like I’m doing performance art when I’m reading with children - but I like this feeling! I’ve never felt like an artist before. I barely have an artful bone in my body, but I can do this type of art.

There is an art to reading with a child. The ‘art’ includes the books that you choose to read, the pace that you read the book, how to do the voices of the different characters in the story, getting the children involved in the story, and interacting with them.

I’ve never known what it feels like to be an artist, until I started volunteer reading, and I love it! I’ve always secretly believed that everyone is an artist in their own way, but somehow I didn’t think it was true for me. But it is true… I am an artist at reading with children. Maybe you are too?