We want our kids to enjoy school, and we want them to enjoy learning. Some kids do, but for others, it’s a struggle. Whether this is due to bullying or just feeling overwhelmed by the classwork, it’s a problem.

One of the most important things that kids in elementary school need to learn is how to read. Think about it. You wouldn’t be able to understand this brilliant prose if you didn’t know how to read. But, seriously, reading is vitally important to do well in higher education and in whatever vocation they decide to pursue. It’d even be hard to order from a menu at a restaurant if we didn’t know how to read.

Belinda George didn’t know that her father couldn’t read for a long time. He was a smart man, so she always just assumed he could read. Her father left school when he was in the 5th grade, and her mother ended her education in 11th grade.

Belinda loves to read, and she credits her love for reading to her elementary school librarian. She went to school in Louisiana, and the school librarian used to sit in a rocking chair in front of a scene from Winnie the Pooh. Belinda remembers it looking like “the whole 100 acres made of felt.” With the 100 acre wood as her backdrop, the school librarian would read to the children.

Now, Belinda is 42 years old, and it’s her 1st year as principal at Homer Drive Elementary in Beaumont, Texas. She was vastly disappointed in how her students did on the state-mandated reading test last year. Only 60% of the school’s 4th graders and 47% of the 3rd graders passed the test.

Channeling her memories of her school librarian who used to read out loud to the students, Belinda decided to start doing a modern-day version of that. Every Tuesday night, she puts on her pjs, sets up her iPhone, logs onto Facebook and reads a story aloud to her students through Facebook Live.

The students tune in to what she calls “Tucked-In Tuesdays” on their parents’ phone or computer. The idea is that this is a bedtime story read by the principal. As kids log on, Belinda calls out their names. Hearing their principal say their names is one of the things the children look forward to the most.

Oh, and those PJs we mentioned? They’re not boring PJs. One week she wore a unicorn onesie. Another week she held a ladybug pillow and wore ladybug wings. Each week, she does something to match her PJs to the story she’s reading.

Get a glimpse at what her videos are like below.

 

Belinda has only been doing these videos since December, but they’ve become so popular that kids from other schools and other states have started tuning in to see what PJs she’s wearing and to listen to the story.

It seems that Tucked-In Tuesdays are working. Belinda says, “It’s catching on like wild fire. Kids are starting to read more and building their confidence. Kids who haven’t read out loud in class are starting to raise their hands.”

What do you think about this principal’s creative way to get kids interested in reading? Do you read out loud to your kids?