So, I'm a little late to the game. I've known about podcasts and what they do but I've never really taken advantage of them. Now that I am trying to exercise everyday at the gym, they have become a great friend to listen to. One of my favorites is linked below, Read Aloud Revival by Sarah McKenzie. She's a homeschooling mother after my own heart. She has taken her voice, wisdom, and experience to start a sort of "read aloud revival", an attempt to bring back the acceptance and importance of reading aloud as a family. Before electricity, this was the most popular form of entertainment. If no one in the family could read, then they sat around telling stories that had been passed down from generations gone by; this was just as effective.
I encourage you to become a family who reads aloud. It's the one organic thing you can do to give your children an advantage in academics and learning. You can never start too soon or too late.
Our boys really enjoy the time I read aloud to them. Not only am I broadening their minds, I'm also broadening mine, too. And then there are the memories I am making with them; this is possibly the greatest aspect about it.
There is always the question of what to read. Some will encourage living books only, some encourage the classics only and some will never encourage "twaddle" books. "Twaddle" is a term Charlotte Mason (educator) gave to books that have no significant value to the story. I know that value depends on the reader. But there is a significant difference in many books we read. Examples of higher value books would be the Little House books, Tom Sawyer, Wind in the Willows and other such type of books compared the Dork Diaries, Junie B Jones, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and so forth. Some say that many modern books have be written in a way that dumb us down. While I agree and notice the difference, I'm not so legalistic that I don't allow our boys to enjoy a book of their choice so long that the content doesn't compromise our convictions. I, too, enjoy the occasional "twaddle" books for adults but I do recognize the ones with much more significant value in the content.
As for our choice of read aloud books, I choose non-twaddle books to read aloud. These are books that I really want our boys to comprehend the content. I use these books to engage in discussions with them. These books teach lessons, help understand history, or help guide our boys in our walk of convictions and morality. For the most part, I let them choose the books they read on their own. Some of these are "twaddle" such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I cringed at first when they asked to read this series but not now I see that these books are what led them to enjoy reading. In this case, whatever works to help encourage our children to become readers. I will limit these kinds of books but occasionally let them go back to them for mere entertainment. Our boys have actually moved on to more significant books on their own accord.
Right now, if I had to give one of the most successful aspects or our homeschooling is that it has allowed me to create a love for reading in our boys. Sure, they would rather be playing a video game but it's not an act of war to get them to read. Most nights, they stay up later reading in their bed. I can think of much worse to be doing that late so I don't discourage it.
Below is a link to Amongst Lovely Things. This is Sarah's blog that hosts her Read Aloud Revival podcasts. I highly encourage you to give them a try and then try for 30 days to read aloud to your children. What could it hurt, right? Oh, and her philosophy is to become a read aloud family, including the daddy. We aren't a read aloud family. JB just isn't interested but I haven't let that discourage me for participating.
PS: You don't have to be a homeschooling family to be a part of the Read Aloud Revival.
Amongst Lovely Things: Read Aloud Revival
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