How To Start A Family Read-Aloud Tradition (and Why You Should!)

Thank you to my guest Yehudis Litvak from Homeschool Boost for sharing about the benefits of family read-alouds and how you can start this tradition with your family. For more book recommendations and other helpful homeschool information, as well as a free Dog Mini Adventure: No Reading, No Writing, Dyslexia Friendly Literature and Science Unit please visit HomeschoolBoost.com.

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The thought of summer conjures up sunshine, the green canopy of luscious trees above our heads, the scent of ripening fruits, the bubbling of water, or perhaps, ocean waves hitting the shore. When the outdoors beckon, most of us are only too happy to put aside our books and notebooks and follow the call. While some families homeschool throughout the year, most take a break over the summer to focus on activities that are not academic.

In my family, we don’t do any formal academics in the summer. Instead, my kids spend a few weeks in summer camp, and then we travel and visit family. Of course, the summer of 2020 was different, but we still managed to spend some quality time together as a family, visiting national parks and enjoying nature. We are hoping that this summer will be back to some semblance of normal. (As an aside, if you have a 4^th or 5^th grader, make sure to get the free Every Kids Outdoors pass – it saved us a lot of money!)

There is a lot to be said about the benefits of outdoor experiences for children, but that’s beyond the scope of this post. What I’d like to focus on here is what we do in the evenings, after a full day of activities. Of course, some days are so busy that getting the kids to take showers before they drop into beds feels like an accomplishment. But on other days, our favorite evening activity is a family read aloud.

We didn’t start off our read alouds after a thorough research of its benefits. To the contrary, it wasn’t something I had ever given much thought to. I just love books! I was a book worm and an aspiring writer growing up. Now, I am a published author, and I have the best critics I could have ever wished for – my own children. They are also the best marketers, telling their friends about my books.

My children love books too. Some of them are voracious readers who can never have enough books. Others, however, have dyslexia and struggle with the mechanics of reading. They, too, enjoy a good book when it’s available in an audio format or when we read it aloud. And when the whole family is engrossed in the same book, they actively participate in the lively discussions, and even arguments, that often erupt among various family members when they feel especially passionate about a book’s character or plot.

Benefits of Family Read-Alouds

All my children gain a lot from our evening read alouds. They expand their vocabulary, learn about history and geography, and pick up facts and ideas that fire their imaginations. More importantly, by identifying with believable characters with various human struggles, they become more caring, empathetic, and compassionate human beings.

The biggest, and somewhat unexpected, benefit of read alouds for our family has been the bonding and closeness that they foster among family members. The shared experience of being deeply engrossed in a book and rooting for the same character brings people together in a unique way.

It’s even more powerful than the trips we take during the long summer days, because we explore together not only the physical landscape around us, but also the emotional, spiritual, and moral landscape found in quality literature. As a family, we contend with moral dilemmas and growth-inducing challenges without having to experience them in real life.

We grow as human beings, and the shared growth process leads to deeper appreciation of each other and closer bonds to each other.

A Tradition That Grows Through the Years

As my children grow, our read alouds evolve. It is no longer me, the mother, who is responsible for finding good books and reading them aloud.

Over spring break, my older children who’ve already “graduated” from homeschooling decided on a book and took turns reading it aloud. I got to participate as a listener rather than the reader and discussion leader.

I enjoyed the book, but I especially enjoyed watching my children take the lead, laugh together, argue about what the characters should have done, coming up with ways to improve the characters’ predicaments, and generally impressing me with their maturity and understanding of people. After many years of heavy, and often challenging and confusing, parenting, I felt that I had done something right.

Start a Family Read-Aloud Tradition

Would you like to begin a summer read aloud tradition in your family? Not sure which books to read? Here are some my children and I recommend. As you can see, they span a range of genres and topics, so take your pick!

• The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart
• A Single Shard and The Kite Fighters by Linda Sue Park
• Emily’s Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary
• The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
• Frindle by Andrew Clements
• By the Great Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleischman
• On the Run series by Gordon Korman
• The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
• The Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage
• Ginger Pye and Pinkie Pye by Eleanor Estes
• Mr. Lemoncello’s Library series by Chris Grabenstein

This guest post is part of the Homeschool Summer Fun Series. Make sure to check out the series landing page to learn more about the series and find all of the posts in one place!