Most of us have at least one teacher that we remember from our school years that made an impact in our lives. For me, she was my fifth grade teacher. She was wonderful! Sometimes the school would have contests to motivate us in behavior and academics and we won every one the school had! However, the thing that made the biggest impact on me was her reading aloud to us every single day! She read everything from Charlottes Webb to Bridge to Terabithia. She had the attention of everyone in the room, including the students that were typically a challenge. I could not wait until reading time where she would get these stories out and introduce us to all the wonderful characters of the stories! I LOVED it!
I think one of the greatest things we can do to bond with our children is to set aside time to read aloud to them, no matter what their age is. Many times as parents we read aloud to our little ones. We have them on our lap or have them cuddle with us to read during their special bedtime routine. When our children begin reading on their own, we often quit this time with them. We know they are reading and we may feel it isn’t as important for us to read to them.
Some of our greatest times as a family have been reading great books together. The kids get so excited talking about the characters, begging for another chapter to be read and excited about the anticipation of the next day wondering what the story is going to bring. Sometimes I get so choked up during a chapter I have to let dad finish it. Those sad ones are hard!
I also find that they naturally become good spellers, good readers, and have high reading comprehension-all because they were read to. All it takes is one chapter a day and they will love it! Audio books are great too; you will have your kids begging not to stop the car.
What are some of your favorite read alouds?
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island…and best of all you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.” Walt Disney
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