How to use the online timer
Fifteen minutes of reading together at bedtime is one of those small routines that holds a whole evening in shape. It is long enough for a chapter or two or three picture books, and short enough to survive a night when the day started early and everybody is tired. In many households here it is also the quietest fifteen minutes anyone gets.
Set the count so the ending is a fact rather than a negotiation, and put it somewhere the child can see. Reading a little past the sound occasionally does no harm; the point is that the boundary exists. Keep this tab open on the device showing it, because closing the page stops the count and returns the decision to whoever is holding the book.
Letting the child pick the book, even for the fourth night running, does more for the habit than steering them towards something better. Older children who read to you rather than being read to still benefit from the same fifteen minutes, and a book slightly above their own reading level, read aloud by an adult, is where a lot of vocabulary quietly arrives.
Common questions
Should I let them pick the same book again?
Yes. Repetition does more for the habit than steering them towards something better, and a book chosen by the child is a book they will sit still for. The variety can come later.
Does it still count once they read on their own?
Very much so. A book slightly above their own reading level, read aloud by an adult, is where a great deal of vocabulary quietly arrives, so the fifteen minutes keeps its value for years.
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