You are not the only one who falls asleep! :) Oh! And proper enunciation does rub off on the kiddos. I noticed the words I properly enunciate, my son will also. Especially new words I introduce. Love your channel!
Lol I love how you talked about regaining a child’s attention. I have had more than one occasion when I had to ask if my listener was ready to stop and then have them respond with an enthusiastic response to keep reading... sometimes with a request to reread the page lol Stopping at a cliffhanger reminds me of Arabian nights too 😂
Oh my! That tip about breathing through the nose is gold! I fall asleep a lot during read aloud and I even start to say things that are not in the book and then my kids poke me to say, hey mom that's not part of the story! 😂
Thanks Sonya! I had an excellent example in my parents, who spent hours reading aloud to my brothers and me through our childhood and teen years. Those are some of my favorite family memories. I didn’t think I needed any tips for reading aloud, but realized after listening that there are a couple of areas I can work on improving, one being to slow down a bit. The tip that resonated most though is to stop at the good parts; I confess to frequently giving in to the pleas for one more chapter. :) Thank you for sharing these!
Stopping at the good parts resonated with me also, as I, too, usually give in to the plea for "One more chapter...!" and assumed that doing so was a good thing. I can see where it is highly beneficial to have them wait, delay their gratification, and allow them to process/mull over the story in their minds as they go about their day.
Ha. My husband and I have dozed off while reading aloud. It's so hard sometimes with a newborn waking up so much through the night and trying to keep on schedule with the older ones.
You're amazing! Thank you Jesus for all your advice. You are my main teacher! I yawn like crazy when I'm reading! I will try to breathe through my nose!
Thanks so much, you are a godsend! Please keep making more content, I really love them. I've been down lately because I'm pretty bad at reading aloud but listening to you gives me hope.
These are great tips! I grew up with parents who read to us often and well and I still use audiobooks as a regular form of book consumption for a variety of genres. I have used many of these techniques in reading to my cousin who is elementary age and she loves listening to me so much some of the sequel books (like A Wind in the Door and Prince Caspian) it was a struggle to get her to let her mom read to her lol. Part of my narrative style is also to encourage questions about what words mean and either pause and explain them or write them down to look up later. Took some time to get her to ask about things I knew she didn’t know because her mom discourages questions while reading, but it is so great to see the kids you read to not just enjoy the story but learn new things at the same time.
I love reading to my children (2 year old and 8 month old). I wanted to start early so that they can find joy in reading. However, I never read for pleasure as much as I would love to because I find my eyes closing every time I read anything.
Yes, I nod off, too. Sometimes it's nap time for mom, sometimes I have to get up and move, or change the subject for my own good, lol. On enunciation, I wanted to mention that I am an older mom and if I speak in a "lazy" manner, my voice has some of that older, gravely sound. When I hear myself doing that, I raise my voice maybe one note? I don't know exactly how to explain it, but it makes my voice brighter and younger again. I do some of these, and I'm glad to see I'm already going those :) But there are several to work on a lot. And with that, I'm off to go read to my boy :)
Thank you for your videos. I'm doing research for my now 2 year so I can be prepared for when it's time to dive in!! I wanted to know with the read aloud is it ok to read to my kids without their attention..say when they are playing around the house? Or should it be a focused listening from them? Does the same effect occur? Or am I just wasting my time?
Your children will get more out of the books if they are giving their full attention to the reading. We'd encourage you to make sure you have their attention whenever you read. You may have to start with shorter readings and work up to longer reading times to build that habit of paying full attention. (By the way, we just released an episode a couple weeks ago about working on the habit of paying full attention: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0WCP7tcD44Y.html)
At 7:19, she advises us to listen to good audiobook readers. Two of my favorites: Shazam Watkins (Here reading "The Hobbit") ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-B6tmofzTcJ0.htmlsi=sejCHgMzWCZIIzSr and Adrian Praetzellis (Here reading "Treasure Island") ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jZGF0t5cbJI.htmlsi=oqPYoo2kU1BG--mJ
This was great; anyone have tips for getting my 4 year old to sit and listen? She’s ok with it but interrupts soooo much, I want to encourage questions, but every page is a bit much.
We follow Charlotte Mason's recommendation that no formal lessons should be given until the child is six years old. So for a four-year-old, if she's not into it, let her go play instead. You could tell her that you will stop reading and put the book away if she keeps interrupting. That will help you gauge if she's interested in the book or if she would rather be playing.
The 4 year olds I care for do the same. Many interruptions are questions pertaining to what's happening in the pictures or to satisfy their curiosity about what's coming next in the story. So I remind them often that they'll find out if they patiently listen. One little girl I trained to patiently listen to the whole page before asking any questions. That way if her questions weren't answered in the telling, she wouldn't be interrupting. Most often, she discovered her questions were answered. And she acknowledged that and it reinforced that if she listened patiently and expectantly she'd have her curiosity satisfied. Not all 4 year olds have that maturity, though. So, if they interrupt for other motives I may close the book and try later or let them look on their own or go do something else or even chose a different book. Four year olds, to me, experience the widest spectrum of maturity. From both the individual perspective (early four to just about to turn 5 ), but also the four year old amongst peers is so varying in ability and maturity!
Great question! Follow their lead when they are young, they have short attention spans, meet them where they are. Here are some helpful posts. Here is a helpful post on how to work on slowly improving a child's attention span over time in the early years. simplycharlottemason.com/blog/habit-training-in-the-early-years-early-years-homeschooling-part-2/ This post gives some more helpful tips for the early years. simplycharlottemason.com/blog/the-early-years-2/ How to Read Aloud So Children Love to Listen simplycharlottemason.com/blog/reading-aloud-so-children-love-to-listen/
There is an abundance of books suitable for using in Charlotte's method. Charlotte expected the books used in a child's education to be "living." If you learn what a living book is, what it sounds like, you will be able to choose books with ease. Below, you will find links to articles that will help you learn how to determine if a book is living or not.
It's up to you. Sonya doesn't ask her children to narrate literature read-alouds because she wants the time to be a delightful family moment of enjoying stories together. But other CM-ers do require narrations of literature read-alouds. Decide what works best for your family and do that. :-)
21 months is still very early to expect a child to sit through a reading. Charlotte Mason recognized that children are born persons and as persons each takes interest in being read to at different times. In fact, in these early years, Charlotte encouraged more story telling from those that surround a child. This is a wonderful age to help your little one with his fine motor skills, to begin working on routines, and child led exploration out of doors.
Two ideas: You could have them take turns-you decide which one to read first, letting the other child know that you will do their book next. Or you could schedule your day so that each child knows when it will be their turn to read with you.
