If you’re like most people, you’ve made a list of goals for the new year. And if you’re like most people, you know how last year’s goals were pretty much washed away like giant sycamore trees carried downstream in a flash flood.

Who knew we’d be getting gifts from neighbors and friends commemorating 2020 with Christmas ornaments featuring masks and toilet paper?

This year, however, can be different. You can make goals for your family for the new year that won’t be impossible to attain no matter what life throws at us.

You can make it your goal this year to give your family the gift of reading.

When was the last time you read a book to your child? With your teen? As a family? With your grandchild? No matter how old or varied your interests are among your family members, reading can be a glue that binds you all together.

I’ve heard of some families who make it their goal to read a different picture book to their little ones every day of the month. I’ve heard of others who make a goal of reading 100 picture books to their kids—however long it takes them. Others up that number to 1,000!

With middle graders and teens, each book will take longer, of course, but just think of the bonding, not to mention the learning experiences, that will take place if you make it your goal to read one longer book aloud together each month in this new year. That’s twelve entire books! Quite a record, especially if you’re a family like some I know who have never yet experienced the joy of reading books aloud with your kids on a consistent basis.

The opportunities for titles to choose from are endless. There are classics of literature to enjoy. Christian apologetics or biographies of influential Christians to inspire your family and strengthen their faith. There are documentaries, novels, adventure books, and even joke books to choose from—books from any genre imaginable that suits your family’s reading tastes! There’s even the One Year Bible where you can read through the entire Bible together with your family in just one year.

And the benefits are priceless. The literature itself will add depth and richness to your family’s experience. The educational experience will help your kids become better readers in countless ways and at so many levels. But the time you’ll spend whether all together as a family or one on one with your child is something money can’t buy. It’s an eternal investment.

How about it? Have you made it your goal—a specific goal—to read aloud to your child or your children in 2021? It’s a goal you can meet whether you’re in quarantine, doing distance learning, or returning to normal life.

Happy New Year!

-written by Nancy I. Sanders, a bestselling and award-winning children’s author of over 100 books, including her newest picture book about a true American pioneer, THE VERY OLDEST PEAR TREE. Visit her website to find out more at www.nancyisanders.com  

-image by Mystic Art Design from Pixabay