Reading Aloud to Boys

Posted by Debra | 0 comments

When my first son was born, some family friends sent us a gift celebrating his arrival. These two women, both classroom teachers, blessed us with My Very First Mother Goose by Iona Opie and Rosemary Wells and the Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. They were both read over and over with my first son, my second and now with my third. Of all my resources, this gift shaped my parenting more than any other.

We began reading aloud to our children long before we ever dreamed we’d homeschool them. It simply became – and is – how we parent.

Photo Credit: Heidi, Mt Hope Academy

There are a ton of great reasons to read aloud to your children. We read aloud in our home, not just because we’re “doing school,” but because we want to spend quality time with our boys, to introduce them to worlds and people they may never have an opportunity to experience, and to shape their minds and worldviews.

Simply stated, we have a genuine agenda.

First, I read aloud to my boys for the quality time it creates. When we experience books together we walk together into a setting, interact with a character, or sort through a conflict in an objective way that creates family understanding. We find out things about one another (“What would you do if you were in this position?”), we share the same fears (“Is Aslan really dead?”), and we hope, laugh and “see” the world differently. As my boys get older our natural interests intersect a little less. Reading with them helps present new touch points through which we can share life.

Modeling the reading process is next on my agenda. My middle son is a reluctant reader and very likely dyslexic. He needs to hear how the language sounds so he can store words away in his head. He needs to hear the rhythm of sentences and what you should do when you encounter periods, commas and parentheses. He needs to hear me stop and ask rhetorical questions about the plot. And he needs to hear me stumble on words and go back and sound them out just like I’m teaching him to do.

Thirdly, as a unit-study teacher I always try to find read-alouds that tie in with what we’re currently thinking about. For example, we’ll be doing a unit on the ocean soon so I’m looking forward to pulling out Call it Courage by Armstrong Perry. We’re also planning an animal unit this year and I’m thinking about trying to read Rascal by Sterling North without crying. For my boys these books will both flesh-out our study topic and fulfill their love of adventure, action and information.

The fourth item on my agenda is to familiarize my boys to matters they may never experience: The Dustbowl, Hurricane Mitch, the fall of the Berlin wall. I don’t try to shelter them from unsettling characters or situations. These things merely become talking points for us as we move through the book. I present them with books that will broaden their views of how this shaken world works and we talk about what they might do to bring some good into it.

Relational modeling ranks high on my agenda as well. Because they don’t have sisters, I am interested in exposing my boys to female protagonists thereby giving them a little insight into the mind of a woman. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi ranked high for my oldest son this year and a few years ago, both of my older boys enjoyed the Sarah, Plain and Tall Series. Similarly, because one of my sons is a little socially aloof, books introduce him to questionable social choices (such as in The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald) and let him vicariously maneuver through them. Ultimately, because I’m human and I don’t know how to show them every facet of what love looks like, I find stories that can unpack this word a little more. For instance, The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson was a great example of love through self-sacrifice that touched us all.

While I don’t go searching for books strictly for their moral lessons, every book will have them. Sometimes I stop reading and say, “That’s interesting. Why do you think he suffered/overcame?” But many times I simply read through the chapter without stopping just to let it simmer in my boys’ heads for a bit. This allows the boys to connect the dots themselves. If they come up with an idea or develop a conviction on their own then it is far more likely to stick with them than if I always tell them the decisions they should make. The characters will either lead them to the right conclusion or they will see the consequences of poor choices played out in the story. We’ve never been at a loss for moral discussion starters… discussions often started by my boys.

Finally, I read aloud to my boys because it is “easy work” for them. If we don’t do anything else during the day, we read aloud and not just for the academic benefits of language acquisition skills, comprehension, science facts or social studies timelines. The skills of thinking, feeling, listening and coming to a new understanding are what will take them through life and reading aloud will do all of these things for their hearts and minds.

Photo Credit: Melissa, A Familiar Path

My sons are 10, almost 8 and 3 and a half. Because my audience is solely male I have to admit I have skipped some great books that cater to female readers. But, in contrast we have read some great stories that I…being female…never would have picked up on my own.

Here is a short list of some of our favorites.

Our Very Favorite Read Alouds
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
From the Mixed of Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
Bandit’s Moon by Sid Fleishman
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Pedro’s Journal by Pam Conrad
Poetry by Shel Silverstein

Our Favorite Read Alouds in a Series
Heroes Biographies by YWAM Publishing
The Wall Series by Robert Elmer
Detective Zack by Jerry D. Thomas
The Time Warp Trio by Jon Scieszka
The Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

Favorite Read Alouds for a Discerning Boy
Swiss Family Robinson by Johann D. Wyss
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Twenty One Balloons by William Pene du Bois

Debra Anderson has three sons ages 10 and younger. Her passions are education, mentoring, her husband, writing, church ministry and missional living — not in that order. She has her seminary Masters degree in Christian Education and is married to her true-companion pastor-husband in their home of Denver, CO. In spite of moves between four different states, she has always home educated their boys — even on the hard days. She maintains a blog at www.emergent-homeschool.blogspot.com.