Reading aloud is a pleasurable activity for both reader and listener. So why stop? As one mom shares, even teens can enjoy the read-aloud experience, and “the connections you make, as you read aloud, last a lifetime, for both of you.”
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Reading aloud: it can sometimes be a bit intimidating when you first dive into a new book. Here are some tips to make reading time with your child enjoyable, engaging, and interactive.
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Both of my children, now young adults, went to Seedlings. I loved the fact that there was no academic curriculum, that they spent all morning in creative play. I knew that between the upcoming twelve years of school and four of college (and, perhaps, grad school), they’d eventually get plenty of instruction in math, history, science, and, of course, reading. Others around me, however, were more alarmed, especially about the lack of formal reading instruction…
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I found it most interesting that in my daughters’ teen years, when they talked about a book, they always said, “when I read…” Sometimes they had read the book, sometimes I had read the book to them, and many times they had listed to the audiobook. My daughters saw no distinction between reading the book and listening to the book. As adults we make this distinction. As a culture we value reading more than listening. Maybe because most of us can hear when we are born, but we have to learn to read. But hearing is not listening any more than word-calling is reading.
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Long summer days– when daylight stretches into nighttime and people and schedules are more relaxed– are the perfect time to get lost inside a book. But what good’s an adventure if you can’t share it?
For this series, we chose to talk about reading aloud, specifically, because it combines two of our favorite things: reading, of course, (and all that comes with it: language, literacy, expression, exploration) and community. Join us throughout the summer as Sunflower Blog explores reading aloud in all its forms and benefits, from the tangible to the more magical.
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“Mommy, when will I born a baby?”
This is what my four-year-old son asked me from the backseat of the car yesterday.
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What do Neapolitan ice cream and Sunflower Creative Arts have in common? They both offer a trinity of bliss for parents. Sunflower mom Sophie Evans cracks open a tub of Sunflowery goodness and tells the story of what drew her to our programs in the first place – and what keeps her coming back.
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The Waiting Game: Add it to the list of things I have learned at Sunflower Creative Arts.
The most important lesson that my son has taught me is the Waiting Game. For him, walking came at 16 months, talking came at 2.5 years, and he toilet “learned” at almost four. I felt all of the pressure when he did not hit the “developmental milestones” at the exact moment the doctor charts told me he should. I had to force myself to ignore the pressure and just… wait.
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We allow our children to feel their emotions, but do we do that with ourselves? Do we parents respect ourselves enough to accept and acknowledge our own feelings of sadness, anger, guilt and loneliness?
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A teacher shares a beautiful example of child-led, community-based learning (the kind we believe in at Sunflower!) in a more traditional classroom setting.
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