Reading with kids, read to your children, it is important and worth the investment.
I read many books as a child, but I think I have enjoyed many of them twice as much when I read them with my children. Homeschooling gave us ample time to read countless books, taking our time to explore the contents, moving along slowly as we digested it, or rushing to find out how the story would unfold in the next chapter.
We also enjoyed hours of fun listening to books on tape in the car or as we worked on crafts and other projects.
Whatever type of materials you enjoy reading, Home Education Magazine offers the following articles and resources on reading.
“Reading is not a duty, and has consequently no business to be made disagreeable.” -Augustine Birrell
Articles
Revelations of a Homeschooling Mom – Carol Wanagel
Once I realized how bad the textbooks were, we started going to book stores and libraries more often. The kids bought or checked out whatever they wanted. Suddenly, with all their reading and discovery, THEY were the ones giving ME information. Josh asked, “You know about klipspringers, European mountain goats that can land with all four hooves on a ledge the size of a quarter?” No, I never knew that. Joanna, experimenting with the piano, asked, “You ever notice that a melody sounds better if you use notes right next to each other or at least two apart?” No, I’d never noticed. Jon J explained to me, “For SOME people (meaning himself) it’s just as easy to add large numbers by calculating all the columns at once.” Gee, I wouldn’t have suggested that method.
Homeschooling Fathers - Gary Wyatt
Second, read good books with your children each day, possibly in the evening. Reading provides families with the opportunity to master new words, visit faraway places, and learn important lessons of life. I have come to value reading time with my children more than any other time that I spend with them. Currently, my 14-year-old son Christopher and I are reading Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War, The most poignant fictional accounts of what happens to a teenage boy who defies his peers. Invaluable discussions about the power of peer groups have followed each reading episode. Cory, my 11-year-old, and I are finishing Paul Creswick’s Robin Hood. Lessons about morality, loyalty, friendship, power, and corruption, as well as information about medieval England have been learned. Aaron, my 5-year-old, is just learning to read. We read Dr. Seuss books and other early readers. We look at picture books and talk about the pictures we see. Reading is the perfect way to end the day, and with children of different ages who go to bed at different times, it provides valuable moments of one-on-one time with them.
Playtime A Time for Children and Parents to Share and to Grow - Amber P. Keefer
Storytime is an important way for parents to share time with young children and help them learn and develop new skills. Long before my own daughter could read, she looked forward to the times when she would snuggle up between her father and I and point to the pictures as we read her a story. Eventually, she could recite her favorite stories word by word just by looking at the pictures. She chattered away at an early age, proving that the time we spent together helped her develop language and communication skills even before she was reading. By the time she did begin reading on her own, we reversed roles and allowed her to read to us. This role reversal not only helped to improve her reading skills, but it helped improve her vocabulary and language skills, as well. For years to come, this child who loved to hear the sound of her own voice (and still does), continued to look forward to our shared reading time together.
H is for Homeschooling - Scott Stevens
R is for Reading, reading, reading! How can children be successful in life? By reading, reading, reading! How do children learn to read? They have parents that read, read, read to them. They read books, newspapers, magazines, comic strips, dictionaries, encyclopedias, children’s books and more. There is no magic formula to learn how to read, but children who are read to daily for as little as fifteen minutes from the time that they are born will develop reading skills quite naturally.
Reading Resources
Jim Weiss
Greathall Productions Inc. – Wonderful books on tape
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is the first producer of free electronic books (ebooks).
