June 14, 2018
By Stephanie Becker
We live in Nashville where the options for free family fun are plentiful, indeed, and especially during the summer months. Our family of 5 has so many awesome things going on this summer: pool, Little League tournaments, a visit with my Mom complete with muraling through Nashville, beach trips… but we’ve only got two weeks of summer vacation under our belt and I’m already getting tired! My favorite free thing to do over the summer is to take breaks from the “activity” and simply read to my kids.
Now, I am not suggesting you start reading aloud Dostoyevsky for an hour every day. Start with an audiobook. What if you told your kids you are tired of listening to the same 20 pop songs on the radio and you needed a change? One of your favorite books growing up was Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren and you want to listen to it while you drive to and from camp, or the pool, or the grocery store. Or better yet, during peak sun hours, head inside for a bowl of ice cream and listen to said audiobook for 10 minutes at a time… for 16 days. Take 3 weeks; don’t do it every day. If you read most days for 10 minutes your kids will remember the summer they kick-backed with Mom and ate ice cream, read Pippi Longstocking and laughed, and laughed and laughed some more.
Here in the South we have roughly 40 more days of vacation until school starts in August. If you read for 10 minutes a day, that’s 400 minutes, or over 6 and a half hours of reading. Maybe make it a Roald Dahl themed summer and read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the BFG (7 hours, 40 minutes) or Matilda and James and the Giant Peach (7 hours, 35 minutes). Two of my favorites are The Twits and Fantastic Mr. Fox and they are on the short side. When you’re done with the books, watch the movies as a family!
There are so many benefits to reading with your kids, more eloquently said on Dr. Meg Meeker’s podcast Parenting Great Kids, Episode 56: Reading Aloud With Your Kids. I’m also a huge fan of Sarah Mackenzie’s Read Aloud Revival podcast. With the right book for your family and a dedicated time to read to your kids, you can be successful! Here are some tips to help you get started:
Audiobooks
I started using audiobooks when my kids were babies. I wasn’t a fan of kids music and one day I found Mother Goose Rhymes on CD at my local library. Then I used Rabbit Ears collections of folk and fairy tales. Really anything age appropriate works. These days I use my local library and the Overdrive app on my phone. I’ve used Audible (FREE) online a few times for books my library doesn’t have as well.
Book Lists
Book lists are great – specifically for Read Aloud Chapter Books. Your local library and Children’s Librarian may also be a fantastic resource for recommendations. My favorite place for finding read aloud titles online is What Do We Do All Day. There is a booklist for everyone here! But don’t limit yourself to chapter books…
Picture Books
There are SO many wonderful picture books for kids ages 6 to adult. Again, here I use What Do We Do All Day. I go on binges requesting books from my library. My 10 and 8 year old devour them, and when I sit down to look at one (really, I get picture books for myself) inevitably a child comes over to peek over my shoulder and I start reading to them.
Read to Your Teens
I love the idea in this article about Read Aloud Sleepovers! And reframing picture books as part of a teen’s library as “stress free reading” is genius. NPR has a great list for teens.
Follow The Great American Read
My kids are watching The Great American Read launch episode as I write and they’re asking me, “Can we vote?” “I’m voting for Harry Potter!” “Can I read Lord of the Rings?” “What are you going to vote for, Mom?”
Use Incentives (a.k.a. Bribery)
If your library has a summer reading program, use it! In Nashville you can track your time reading and earn small prizes, free visits to local museums and coupons to local restaurants. If your library does not offer a program, make your own! Celebrate reading 5 days in a row with brownies, popcorn or popsicles. Celebrate your efforts at the end of the summer and let the kids pick out a new or used book for their personal library.
Give your kids something to do While You Read
While you read aloud, give your kids something to do – my 6-year-old really needs a mini-trampoline but uses the couch. My daughter draws, so we keep paper and pencils handy for her to pull out as she’s listening. My older son likes Highlights Hidden Picture Books I find at Target. We got samples of Paint By Sticker books recently and my kids are enjoying them as they listen. All three of my kids go through finger knitting frenzies every once in a while which is awesome while listening. Put a puzzle on the floor. Get creative, let your children move around, it’s okay and it is actually a good thing!
I hope y’all will give a family read aloud a try and make it your next summer adventure. Read for pleasure and have fun creating a new family memory. Mama’s tired, so hit play on that audiobook and pass the ice cream!
Stephanie Becker is a Homeschool Mom to three kids ages 6, 8 and 10. She has been homeschooling since her first-born was in utero in 2007 using a varied curriculum and tapping into the homeschool community for co-ops and tutorials as needed. She approaches homeschooling one day at a time because thinking about it long term brings on anxiety attacks. Her approach to homeschooling is eclectic and flexible and relies heavily on her library card. And yes, she breaks for summer!
When Stephanie is not homeschooling: being the mother, teacher, principal, armchair psychologist, school nurse or cafeteria manager… you might find her staring at a blank wall and drooling. This week she is relishing a week off with her kids in camp, lunches with long-time friends and even dates with her husband of 13 years! Her personal interests are reading, hiking, yoga, PBS documentaries, and travel. She dreams of visiting her ancestral home in Colombia, South America and her spiritual home in Thailand, Southeast Asia with her husband and kids.
