No matter what grade your child is in — kindergarten through college — his or her reading life can thrive and have a positive impact on other areas of life. What’s the ONE step that can transform your child’s reading life?
According to TEDx presenter and educator Rebecca Bellingham, the power of a story allows students “to think, to learn and to discuss big ideas about the world, about the lives of others and about ourselves.”
Whether your student is 5 or 15, she learns so much from a book being read aloud that isn’t related to school. She learns how to discuss important concepts, how to feel empathy for others, how to write and communicate clearly, and how the words we use can either help or harm others.
In a world where strong values are consistently challenged by cultural norms, it’s important for students to not just read books for themselves to themselves.
They need to become immersed in the power of a good story. How can they do that without hearing one out loud?
But how do you juggle reading aloud, especially to a child who may have forgotten the joy of reading or is in middle or high school and thinks reading aloud is for younger students?
We have three tips to help you recover the joy of reading aloud with your child.
Reading Books with Appealing Content
Tip No. 1 is to read your child books with content that appeals to them. This is a great place to start if you have a reluctant reader, a high-energy child or an older child who has decided books just aren’t for him.
It only takes one story to engage a reader.
Children’s author of more than 30 books, including novels, picture books, anthologies and chapter books, Kate DiCamillo writes, “Reading should not be presented to children as a chore, a duty. It should be offered as a gift.”
It may start with a magazine story of a famous cyclist because your teen is trying to increase his speed for a cycling competition. Begin where you think your child will be most engaged.
Reading Books as a Whole
A popular article in The Atlantic recently raised questions about why so many students don’t read whole books in school anymore. It’s a question worth asking, yes, but it’s also worth noting the statistics in the article about students who do (or don’t) read for fun anymore.
In “The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books,” author Rose Horowitch cites 2022 data that implies only 11% of high school seniors had read any books for fun the year before. Reading whole novels to our children helps them learn so much more than how to read.
They gain an understanding about what makes up a story. Of course, they learn about parts of the plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution) in school. But there’s nothing like understanding plot from the standpoint of a narrative from its beginning to its middle and then the final page.
Try to attempt one book a semester by reading aloud on vacations, taking long car rides, and in doctor’s office waiting rooms. Think of it as a way to pass the time when your student is “stuck” somewhere, and there isn’t a great alternative (especially if you ask for his or her phone for a few minutes). When reading a book becomes the thing you do while waiting, it’s not as difficult to finish a novel as you may have thought.
Tip No. 2 is to read a book from start to finish, even if it takes a year or longer. One family from Learnwell shared that every time they started reading “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery, they’d encounter a major life shift — such as a health diagnosis, a move, or a schedule change — so it created obstacles for their read-aloud routines.
Still, their parents stuck with it, taking turns reading the book. Why? As their high school son shared months after they’d thrown in the towel and considered giving up on reading it aloud, he said, “I like the book. I’d like to see what happens to Anne.”
Like the book. Hate the book. In its entirety. No matter how long it takes. When you finish a book as a family, it creates memories that will last a lifetime.
Reading Books to Create Shared Conversation
Our third tip is to look at the act of reading from a different perspective. Look at reading as a family activity you can do on Saturday mornings with coffee and donuts. You can create a nostalgic memory for your children by slowing down, even if it’s just for a half-hour before the soccer game starts.
When you share a story, you share a conversation about what you think the characters will do, whether or not they made the choices you would’ve made, and why you (or your kids) may have responded to a situation differently.
Learning how to talk about a book is the gateway to learning how to talk about all sorts of topics. Another Learnwell family shared that some of the topics they’d been meaning to get to just came up naturally because of a book they read together.
Find out where to begin with our list of accessible books to read aloud to all ages.
If you feel like you’re too busy to read aloud or your child’s school and sports schedule prevents it, we’d love to share more about the Learnwell North Georgia hybrid school model. We encourage intentional family time because it gives children a solid foundation for their future. We also structure the schedule to empower parents to choose time together over “seat time” at school five days a week. Find out about our hybrid school, a mix of at-school learning and at-home learning, by attending our next tour or parent information night.
Would you like to send your child to a hybrid school but don’t live near the Alpharetta campus? We can partner with you to educate your child at home. Learn more about it through our Navigator Program.