Reading is an Adventure
March 5, 2008 by Guest
Last week my kids and I started reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Our World History curriculum has landed us in America during the 1800’s when people looked to the West for a new life and cheap land, and the Ingalls family is to be one of our tour guides on this adventure.
Reading the “Little House” books to my kids is bittersweet. I can remember reading the series with my older girls about 10 years ago, and I can still picture them falling in love with the prairie. Hand-washing clothes and churning butter seem magical tasks to children used to modern convenience. We made vanity-cakes, the girls wore sunbonnets, and we even stitched a quilt that summer. My girls loved the stories so much that we decorated their bedroom with patchwork quilts and a wall-border made of Little House paper dolls. Little did I know that those memories we made would live long in our minds.
When it comes to reading aloud, my biggest hang-up is time. It is easier to hand the kids a book and let them know that it needs to be read by Friday. I do this with some books, but at least one book per week is read aloud by me. I make this a priority, and on normal school-days we rarely bypass this.
Making room for reading in your schedule is as simple as picking a time and a place and sticking to it. Everyday after lunch my kids know where to find me: on the couch with a book in my hand, ready to go.
Taking the time to read books to your children is not only a great way to learn, but it is also a perfect way to create memories as you meet new people, visit new places and encounter new ideas. Reading instills a love for learning and a curiosity about life and people, but it also forges a bond that only comes through sharing adventure and visiting magical places together, even if the adventures are undertaken from the comfort of your couch.
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Marsha on Wed, 5th Mar 2008 6:20 am
While I personally can’t stand to listen to other people read out loud, my boys LOVE it when we read a book together! They especially enjoy it if I read to them while they’re eating breakfast… and another favorite is reading at bedtime (even if the big plus is postponing bedtime a bit).
I’m curious to see how they feel about the Little House books when we get to that later this year.
Great post and reminder, Randi!
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Kysha on Wed, 5th Mar 2008 6:46 am
My dc love our reading time. They get so absorbed into whatever it is that we are reading. It’s really cute to watch their faces in wonder of what their minds are thinking and creating as we read.
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Christina on Wed, 5th Mar 2008 2:26 pm
I agree! Our ‘group readings’ are our FAVORITE time spent together!
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devildogwife on Wed, 5th Mar 2008 2:29 pm
Our homeschooling currently is the Prairie Primer (the unit study using the Little House books), and we’re really enjoying it. It makes us very grateful for what we have. Munchkin loves me reading the books to her each day.
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Morning Rose on Wed, 5th Mar 2008 2:42 pm
My boys love read aloud time too, especially at night before bed when we have a good book to share. It seems they always want me to read one more chapter.
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Carrie K. on Wed, 5th Mar 2008 3:29 pm
We LOVE read-aloud time at our house. The best part is that you experience the book together – you laugh at the funny parts, shiver at the scary parts, and cry at the sad parts. and then you have a joint memory that you can always call upon. I love it when one of the kids say, “Hey, Mom, that reminds me of …” and then name one of the books we read together.
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Heather on Wed, 5th Mar 2008 3:31 pm
We love to read aloud. Using KONOS, we always have a “family read-aloud” book for every unit study we do. Some take longer than others. Right now we are reading G.A. Henty’s book about the fall of Jerusalem (and studying about the tabernacle of God). I was dreading this unit (somehow I think I had this image of cubits and measurements in my mind and didn’t want to have to do the craft – building the temple), but after beginning the read-aloud, we all have really gotten in to it. Not only that, God blessed me with a friend who is mailing me a paper model of the temple we can build and put together! I’m so loving this unit!
Reading is magical. It also boosts vocabulary, spelling, grammar, conversational skills, imagination, and memory!
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Melanie on Wed, 5th Mar 2008 4:28 pm
We read together every night before the kids go to bed. Sometimes one book that the kids both agree on, sometimes a little from a book from each child. (I only have two, so that’s not onerous.)
We started back when my oldest was 3 and my youngest was a newborn – we could no longer read off and on all day long like we did before the baby was born, so I made *sure* to set aside time at bedtime. 9 1/2 years later, we’re still going strong!
They love it, and I think it’s good for them – they have much better listening skills than I have when it comes to listening to a book. I just can’t “do” audiobooks. My mind wanders and I can’t focus enough to really get it. My two have no trouble with listening.
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Tara in VA on Wed, 5th Mar 2008 8:30 pm
Your post was terrific. My son picked up reading early (a big blessing) and likes to read himself to sleep at night. We decided to study Jamestown and I got a book that, although he could read the words, I thought might be a little old for him. Soooo we read it together. This was one of my most rewarding homeschool experiences to date. He and I loved the book but I think it was the experience of us going on this “adventure” together that seems to be inclining to a love of history (which I LOVE)! The book was Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone. It really sparked our imaginations…here in our fort…inside our palisades…where we say things like “Wingapoe” (sp) to each other…
Reading together — not just for toddlers anymore
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Kimmie on Wed, 5th Mar 2008 9:25 pm
Hi Randi!
We love read aloud time- the kids illustrate as we go. These illustration notebooks are some of my favorite things to look back on over the years of homeschooling. I am sure to have the kids write their names in the book and then label and date each page (labeling also the book we are reading at the time).
I am pondering Little House for next year (or maybe the summer) with my four youngest. Now we are trying to finish up Little Women (my 9 and 13 year old enjoy this-the youngest 3 play around us as we read aloud).
The library is our favorite place! Nothing like a stack of books to read.
Kimmie
mama to 6
one homemade and 5 adopted
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Sallie on Wed, 5th Mar 2008 9:42 pm
I always love reading as a family. We pass the book around and take turns reading and listening.
Thanks for sharing!
God bless,
Sallie
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mom on Wed, 5th Mar 2008 11:47 pm
Is there anything kids love more than mom reading books to them?
Great topic, Randi!
I wish I had been more consistent in doing this through the years. The problem I ran into was that the best time of the day in our schedule to read aloud was after lunch, but, um, mom tended to, um :::yawn::: FALL ASLEEP! Truly, my older ones could tell you some very funny stories about mom’s reading LOL! Of course, most of those early years I was either pregnant or nursing and could have used a daily nap!
Recently I have been working through cleaning out some bookshelves and reading many of the younger children’s books which we are all enjoying. But it would be fun to get back to an older series and I think I’d do a better job of staying awake….maybe!
Blessings,
Tammy ~@~
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