Here are some ideas. You can use any that you like, and ignore the rest.
I agree with Oogie that it's a good idea for you to learn to read in short
bits of time. It may not feel as satisfying, at least at first, but you may
still benefit from what you learn from the books. You might even learn
more, because you can take time to think about the bit you just read.
Soon enough, your children will be older and more independent and
you'll have more opportunities to read for longer uninterrupted periods of time.
I often read while waiting for a bus or riding the bus. I like to read
while eating. I often read too long when I need to be going to sleep.
For a while, my children each wanted a different book read to them, and
at one point I said OK, I'll spend 10 minutes reading the book each of you
wants and then 10 minutes reading my own book to myself silently.
You could sometimes read children's books to your children, and sometimes
insist on reading aloud to them for a few minutes from your self-help
books, mainly for your own benefit. You could use tone of voice to
make them as interesting as possible, and stop to explain things a bit
as you go along. Or, you could read them in a boring tone of voice,
while the children only half pay attention; they might still find the
sound of your voice comforting and might occasionally learn something useful.
Explaining the information to the children might help you learn and remember
it more.
You could teach your children to read, and then sit close to them while
they read their books and you read your books. I think it's still beneficial
to read aloud to children for years after they've learned to read, but
it may also be fine to spend some time reading different things together:
it's good for them to practice reading themselves and increase their
level of reading competence so that they can enjoy reading by themselves
as much as, or almost as much as, or even more than they enjoy
having you read to them. I have a section about teaching children
to read on my parenting web page:
http://web.ncf.ca/an588/par_home.html
I highly recommend the books "Teach Your Child to
Read in 60 Days" by Sidney Ledson, and
"Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons"
by Siegfried Engelman.
I used to do things like pay bills while standing in the kitchen. Children
are much less likely to interrupt a parent standing in the kitchen doing
something than a parent who sits down even for a minute. You could
try reading standing in the kitchen ... but it may only work if you read
for relatively short periods of time, perhaps fitting it in in the middle
of meal preparation or cleanup.
Sometimes I used to read while watching over my children playing
in the playground. However, I got interrupted a lot.
You could take your children to the library once a week. The library
we used to go to had toys the children could play with. You could sit
and read for half an hour each time (perhaps a book you brought with you)
while your children play with the toys or choose books for themselves,
then read to them for a while or play with the toys with them
before going home.
You could read at lunchtime at work. You could bring your lunch
outside and find a quiet bench or a park or a corner of a building or something
outside your workplace, and read while eating -- even if you have
to do it in a standing position: it's good for your back to take a
break from sitting, anyway!
You could read in your office, and put on ear covers to block out
sounds and arrange things around you so you don't see anyone
going past, so you feel like you're alone.
You could look around your building at work to see if there's a
quiet corner or small room somewhere where you can be alone,
even if that place is only quiet at certain times of day.
You could stay at your workplace for half an hour after everybody
else leaves and read then, or come in early in the mornings.
You could get audio-tape versions of the books you want to read,
and listen to them while cooking and cleaning, while exercising, etc.
You could get in the habit of going for a walk in the late evening and
stopping at a park bench to read for a while.
You could reduce the amount of stuff you plan to read, choosing only
the most important, so that you can spend more time with your
children and other important parts of your life. You might read
just the most interesting parts of some of the books, for example.
I think I learned to read a lot faster by using the Internet -- for example
glancing at emails to rapidly judge whether there's anything worth
reading in them. I can now read at a variety of speeds for different purposes.
because we have an open space.
It means I need to read to them not for myself.
