One of our favorite times in our homeschooling day is read aloud time. However, it is usually the first thing put on the back burner or ignored completely when we get busy. I always scheduled it in the afternoon after all the other "important" subjects are finished. Even when our curriculum has built in read alouds, it always gets pushed to the end. Sometimes I have even told Laura when I've been especially busy that she would have to read the material herself. She is a good reader, and never had many problems even when the material is a bit more advanced. Yet I know it wasn't right.
Sonlight and Heart of Dakota are curriculum companies that plan a lot of read alouds for students. These companies as well as many homeschoolers believe that reading aloud is very important and that the benefits are long lasting. So important are these benefits that many homeschoolers have a philosophy that reading aloud to your child shouldn't stop when a child can read independently. Children in the middle school and even high school years benefit immensely from being read to.
So, what are those benefits? According to an article published by Alpha Omega publishers, reading aloud to children does some powerful things. Children that have been read to from the time they are young have better verbal and communication skills. They read at higher levels and comprehend materials at a greater level. Children that are read to have stronger listening skills and attention spans. Vocabulary is improved and much more.
From my experience, I have seen that reading aloud entices the child. Often, after Laura and I share a good book, she will go back and read it on her own. Reading aloud actually created in her a desire to read on her own. So, by my own opinion, reading aloud helps to develop a deep love of reading. Children live the stories they hear. Their imaginations grow and develop. They can more easily picture the story in their head, which is great for kids that learn by auditory and visual methods.
The benefits have been obvious for a long time, but finding the time required and sticking to it has always been my challenge. As I have been trying to focus on what is important in the education of my children, I realized that all the math and grammar knowledge in the world means nothing if a child cannot think creatively. Jesus told parables to illustrate points. He told stories, and they helped His followers to relate their worlds with Kingdom principles. He taught them how to think by the stories He told.
One of the greatest challenges for a Christian is learning how to think as the Bible tells us to. In our society today, the media is a very powerful influence. We often develop our thinking by empathizing with the characters on our favorite movies or television shows. We watch the stories told of these characters lives and are our thinking is influenced. We would like to think that we are smart enough to not be influenced, but what we allow into our brain tends to form seeds just as the parables that Jesus told formed seeds. Unfortunately, much of the thinking on TV or in movies is not Biblical. In fact, it is usually the opposite.
Reading aloud can have the same influential effect. Literature can be very powerful. Can the amount of influence be measured when a child sits by their parent and has wonderful stories read to them? Think of the possibilities! Adventures, stories of the past, stories of Christians and the obstacles they overcame in the past, or even how they suffered for their King, Jesus Christ. History comes alive in the adventures and stories from the people that lived it. Science grows from mere facts to a wonderful study of the world God made when a child is read to from living science books. Even movies can not compare to the profound influence literature can hold. Movies are passive entertainment, but listening to great literature requires the mind to form images on its own. What the mind can imagine, it almost lives.
Some of my favorite experiences weren't mine, but the experiences I had in books. Some were so well written it was like being there myself. I was best friends with many of the characters. I am one of those people that would rather read the book much of the time than watch the movie. In fact, I often am let down by movies after reading the book because so much seems to be missing, from facts to emotions.
To rectify the reading aloud problem, I made the decision to move reading to my children to the first part of my day. Right after breakfast, with coffee in my hand, I sit on the couch with Laura and I read. I read a devotion, a chapter or two from the Bible, the scheduled Heart of Dakota read alouds, and then I delve into a different book. Right now we are in the middle of Caddie Woodlawn. I kept planning for Laura to read this book, and it kept getting put off. It was one of my favorites from my childhood. I picked it off our shelves and started reading.
It started off at an hour. Then, my three year old wanted me to read to her too. So now I am officially reading almost two hours per day. Megan, the three year old, had three Magic School Bus books read to her today... and SHE LOVED THEM! Our lives and homeschooling have taken on new life with reading aloud being done every day, first thing every morning. The academics haven't suffered or been put off. In fact, Laura is doing better than ever. We aren't taking all day on the other things either because of reading. Laura is still done by early afternoon and has time to focus on her own interests.
If there was ever one secret that homeschoolers have known for years, but that most people just don't take the time to do well, it is reading aloud. Even homeschoolers can put it off and not make it a priority, as I did for too long of time. However, I won't make that mistake again. I want my children to be active, interested learners. I want them to be well read, and one of the ways that will happen is if they love to read... or love to be read to. My hope is that all parents, homeschoolers or not, would read aloud to their children and enjoy the time together and the precious memories that are formed.
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