This week, I have been reflecting on how different our family read-alouds look at our current stage of life.

Some of my earliest memories with my kids, are reading to them aloud. I remember sitting with our first son, when he was around one year old. I would rock him to sleep with a board book–“But Not the Hippopotamos” or “Brown Bear, Brown Bear–” and feel his warm little body on my lap. My husband and I would speak, and read to him, in both English and Spanish. He loved books, and we had plenty!

As he grew up, we devoured books together, and right before his fourth birthday, I started reading our first chapter book: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I wasn’t sure how he would do, so I supplemented it with a lot of explanations and descriptions–but he ate it up. I knew I had a future voracious reader on my hands!

When my second, a daughter, was born, same story: we read lots of books together! Several years later we added a third–another boy. Our weekly library trips turned into multiple trips per week, as my oldest moved into chapter books of his own, and my daughter loved listening to picture books.

How Reading Aloud Has Changed In Our Family

It wasn’t until I had my fourth, two years ago, that I really started seeing a shift in our reading as a family. Here are some of the main differences I noticed:

• One of the most obvious changes is that my firstborn simply likes more advanced books, now. His interests have expanded and his reading level is high. Reading is one of my favorite things in life, so I wanted a way to connect with him, over books, that was more specialized. Last summer, we started our own mini Book Club together! We read Lunch Money (Andre Clements), Maniac Magee (Jerry Spinelli), and several others. Once we finished each book, we would plan a little date, and enjoy a snack like sour gummy worms, and chat about the book. I have a feeling I will look back and consider it one of my favorite parenting memories.
• Another recent change is that my daughter (#2) doesn’t like to do her silent reading time during the day, anymore. Trying to get her to read during regular homeschooling hours was like pulling teeth. Finally, I relaxed into the change, and tried to let go of my very specific structure. She asked if she could stay up an 20 extra minutes for bedtime, reading with a small lamp–and I said, perfect! She has been contentedly snuggled up with her pink blanket each night, chuckling over Calvin & Hobbes, ever since.

• My preschool-aged son (#3) is a child who loves to snuggle. Everywhere I go, he wants to be there: talking to me, touching arm to arm. It is extremely sweet. It can also be…a little tricky! 🙂 Recently I wrote about how getting him his own pair of Bluetooth headphones for audiobooks was an absolute game-changer. While he loves to be read to, sometimes there just isn’t enough time in the day to do that well (mostly due to child #4, our caboose, who will be discussed shortly! :)) The Bluetooth headphones allow him to listen to his favorite books on audio, while still snuggling right beside me.
• Another thing that changed, is that I began reading a special read-aloud to that same preschooler son! We have been flying through these illustrated Harry Potter novels. They’re the same text as the normal Harry Potter books, but have more deluxe illustrations. They’re gorgeous. We are currently finishing up The Prisoner of Azkaban, and my son is so into it!
• Last but not least, the spitfire: my daughter, child #4! Most of the changes that took place this year, in the realm of reading, were due to this adorable caboose. If I try to read aloud, while she’s awake, she just tries to yell over me. She loves to stomp her pudgy baby feet on the pages I’m reading, open her mouth to sing or yell whenever I try to read the words on the page, and generally just create a lot of mayhem!

I will admit, this distraction was hard for me to get used to at first. She went from a docile baby-“taby”-toddler who would just toddle around us during reading time, to a full-forced two year old who would have NONE of that “reading” stuff. Ha! So, eventually I had to adjust my expectation. I had to completely rethink how we did read-alouds of any kind. Now, we usually try to read for History while she’s napping, and do our Kid Book Club reading once she’s in bed at night. Hopefully someday soon, we can start including her in our picture book reading but as of right now, she’s got better things to do! 🙂

What I Have Learned About Reading Aloud

One thing I have learned about reading in homeschool, is that not every kid is created equal! This of course applies to all subjects, but I have noticed it specifically with reading, recently. I have to remind myself, to not have the same expectation amongst my kids (save for, giving things their best effort). My son would fly through Magic Treehouse books in first grade, sometimes more than one per day. My daughter just finished second, and still has not latched on to any particular series with that much fervor! And that’s ok. She is still a strong reader, just doesn’t have quite the same level as passion, as her big brother.

I have also learned that, as is true for many things in homeschooling, parenting, and life in general: more is caught, than is taught. It is important to model what you value, even more than lecturing or insisting your children do those things. If you’re modeling it yourself, they are more likely to do it too. I love stumbling upon my kids reading to each other–big brother reading to little brother, big sister reading to little sister, or especially–my oldest, reading to my youngest. They are eight years apart, and he gets a real kick out of her.

Appreciating the Positive

Lastly, I am taking time to dwell on the positive. Despite many changes this past year, due to my kids’ ages and developmental levels, our reading life has changed a lot. Here are some major positives on which I’ve been reflecting:

• My oldest still pauses, and joins our snuggle, if he walks by when we are reading aloud. The pull is just too great!
• All three of my kids still enjoy reading aloud together, whether it be one of Treehouse Schoolhouse’s Book Club kits for our Kid Book Club, or our annual reading of Little Pilgrim’s Progress each summer.
• My daughter, number four, the spitfire, mimics what she sees, and often grabs books and “reads” them right next to us. She also loves to grab a few favorites (Mis Primeras Palabras, and Llama Llama And The Bully Goat, currently).

I would love to hear how read alouds have changed in your family, over time!

With love,

Cait