*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission from any purchases. However, all opinions are my own. I never recommend a book or curriculum that I have not used and loved myself.* There are things we do in our homeschool that I love, but my children aren’t that crazy about. Then there are things that they love which surprise me because I honestly have to make myself get enthusiastic about it. However, there is one part of our homeschool day that we all agree on. As a matter of fact, it’s my favorite part of the day, and my kids say that it’s theirs too. It’s when we settle on the couch, usually one on one, and we read a book of fiction together. Our literature, or reading time, has two components: me reading out loud to them, and them reading out loud to me. When they are young, they read easy readers while I read them a children’s classic. Over time, however, we simply go back and forth reading out loud with the same book. There are no discussion questions, no quizzes, no narrations. I don’t make them do a book report. We simply read. We laugh, we exclaim in surprise, and we even cry as we experience each book. Sometimes we make guesses about what’s going to happen next, or we talk about the poor choices that the character seems to be making. Through experiencing the book together, we are studying it and delving into its themes, characterizations, and plot development without ever making a formal lesson out of it. This may surprise you, but as a former English teacher, I think this is the best way to study a book. With a high school class of thirty, I couldn’t do it this way, but one on one with my child, I can. Guess what else? If we don’t like a book, we stop. Since I’m the teacher and the parent, there’s no need to force an assigned book. I want my children to associate reading with joy and pleasure. I don’t want it to be a chore. It’s fiction, after all. Why don’t I just assign them chapters to read on their own? Because there are three strands of reading, and each one is important. They are silent reading, reading aloud, and being read to. Most schools, by necessity, focus on read-alouds in elementary school and silent reading in middle and high school. However, all three strands are vitally important at all levels. This isn’t just theory. Studies have been done showing that different parts of the brain are engaged in each of the three strands. To fully exercise the brain, all three strands must be practiced. Reading out loud also builds children’s confidence and helps them read with more fluency and speed. Most people know this when children are young and first learning to read, but it is important that it continues into adolescence. I was first exposed to the idea of the three strands of reading when I taught sixth grade at a classical school. We were required to spend at least half an hour reading out loud to the students and having them take turns reading to us. Because of my job there, I also learned about Jim Trelease’s The Read-Aloud Handbook. Trelease’s book was fascinating to me as an English major and educator. It’s full of research and data backing up the importance of all three strands of reading. Of course, by the title, you can tell that Trelease is advocating specifically for read-alouds to be returned to the classroom, even in high school. The book would probably seem a little dry to the average parent, though. I’m just a nerd about this kind of stuff!
Why don’t I just read one book to all three of my kids? Wouldn’t that be a lot less time consuming? Yes, it would, but it wouldn’t be best for them educationally speaking. It is very difficult to find a book that is developmentally appropriate for all three of my children. I will sometimes read the same book with my younger two because they are very close in age, but for the most part, I try to make it one on one. It also gives my kids a special bonding time with me on a daily basis. The value of that can’t be measured!
What about the silent reading strand? Because books are so highly valued in our house, my kids do that all on their own! We visit the library weekly, and I let my kids pick whatever they want to read for fun. Whether it’s an American Girl book, a comic book, or an encyclopedia of Lego mini-figures, for the most part, I don’t dictate what they choose. There are moral guidelines in our family, of course. If I feel a book is morally inappropriate, that is the only time I say “no.” Yes, I’m okay with comic books. I’ll actually write an entire separate post addressing that at a later time. The point is, my kids' choices for their silent reading is up to them. As for our read-alouds, I read every book on my own ahead of time before we start the school year to decide if I think my children will enjoy them. (Of course, sometimes, I’m wrong, and then we toss said book.) Here are some of our selections for this school year: From Luke's reading list (age 13):
From Haley's reading list (age 10):From Ian's reading list (age 8):Ian and Haley's joint reading list:
As you probably noticed, I try to select some books that go with the historical period we are studying. I also try to balance the reading difficulty, choosing a few that are challenging, some that are easier reads, and a majority that are right on their reading level. You want to slowly build their reading skill by challenging them without frustrating them. That’s why you want to have two separate books in the earliest years: one for them to read to you and one for you to read to them. Kids can comprehend stories far above their reading level, but they also need to practice their own reading. Make sure you are doing both.
I encourage you to try your own read-aloud time and see how rewarding it can be!
2 Comments
Rachael
8/24/2021 08:10:39 pm
Yes, Melanie! This is so close to what I do with my boys! Funny! We love reading together, too. It is seriously the best part of my day! From time to time, though, I do make them write about what we read as a way to integrate writing into our school day! ❤
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Melanie Tillman
8/25/2021 04:43:21 am
Great minds think alike! ❤️
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AuthorHi, I'm Melanie! I'm a homeschooling mom of three kids ages 13, 11, and 9. I have a BS in English Secondary Education from Asbury University plus 30 hours of gifted certification course work. I've taught in just about every situation you can imagine. Public school, private, homeschool hybrid, and private tutoring. The most important thing I've learned? One on one, individualized instruction can't be beat. Archives
July 2022
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