Moving back into Heart of Dakota has been wonderful! My daughter is loving the books! She wants to read the read-alouds independently! I've let her read a a couple of them on her own and simply added an extra read-aloud or two.
I spent my morning, while my children were working independently, reading about reading. I reviewed the research from over the years about how reading and reading aloud benefits our children. I learned about some new studies that highlighted how reading aloud benefits the left side of the brain and can literally rewire it in positive ways.
I also stumbled upon a podcast called The Read-Aloud Revival, and I have been slowly listening to interviews with some of the strongest advocates for reading aloud and homeschooling. The inspiration from these interviews has helped me tremendously!
How did I let myself forget? Somehow, over the last two years, as we dealt with some tough and overwhelming stresses, I forgot my vision for my homeschool! A large part of my vision is amazing books and literature! Yes, I needed something that was not stressful for me, and I always included a lot of reading, but I am sad that I stopped reading aloud.
Megan is a very skilled reader. She was read to since birth and will take on very challenging material. I have discovered that she is easily able to complete material a full grade level or more above where she "technically" is, with the exception of math, mostly due to her love of reading. And yet, she is a child that would be labeled "ADHD" if she was in public school! Reading aloud to a child and providing them with quality books when they begin reading independently simply works wonders in the brain.
I began listing some of the benefits of reading as I was researching this morning. Here are a few of the benefits:
* Children who are read to have larger vocabularies. Kids have to hear a word multiple times to remember it, and reading provides that exposure much better than conversations or television.
* Reading increases a child's attention span.
* A child's reading level doesn't catch up to his or her listening level until eighth grade. Reading aloud exposes children to ideas and vocabulary and sentence structure that they might not yet have the skill to simply read independently.
* Books give children the experience of "walking in another's shoes." This gives them different perspectives of situations, helps them build empathy, and allows them to handle tough situations without it being personally about them.
* Reading forms bonds that are different from watching a TV show together. In sharing a book together, a child experiences the adventure with their parent, where situations can be discussed and memories made. Family culture is built by these shared experiences.
I want to confess that not every child of mine loves reading. I have five daughters, and a couple of them don't love to read with the same passion as I would wish. Both spent most of their education in public school, and I believe that does play a part. Yes, many public school children love reading, but the textbook learning and constant testing isn't the way many learn. Also, phonics was not used to teach them to read, and reading was a struggle for them in the beginning. By the time they "got it" (or I used a phonics program with them myself), they were behind their class and had developed a negative view of reading and books. Both were eventually brought home to be homeschooled, and were exposed to quality books. They both love reading a little more now, but still don't love it like their sisters. Both are now adults. One of these two thanked me for one book that touched her heart tremendously and still means a lot to her. The two girls are exceptional young women. If I could change anything, I would have purposely read to them more as they were growing up. I would have found ways to introduce awesome books.
I don't want to have the same regrets with my younger girls, and yet I allowed life's struggles crowd out something I know is beneficial and special. I won't feel guilty since that won't change the past, but I do know that I need to redirect my focus back to the homeschool vision I had a couple years ago.
Lesson learned: Dig into reading with my children.
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