Do You Want a Guaranteed Way to Deeply Connect with a Child? Read Aloud!

Have you ever wanted a guaranteed way to have meaningful connections with a child? Have you ever felt disconnected from your child? Would you like a habit that will provide repeated, deep and lasting emotional connections with your child?

The answer to all of these questions is Read Aloud Together.

We talked about this blessing in last week’s blogpost, “Summer Fun #1 – the Pleasure of a Shared Adventure: Let’s Read a Story Together!” And we touched on the many benefits of reading aloud. But I want to focus on this even more in this week’s post.

Recently, I came across a book, The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie [affiliate link]. Her journey started when she was at a friend’s house and saw Jim Trelease’s Read Aloud Handbook [affiliate link] on their table – post-its sticking out all over from the pages.

Sarah’s friend let her borrow Jim Trelease’s book, and so began their own journey of reading aloud together. What she didn’t anticipate was the amazing difference it would make in having deep and truly emotional connections with her children.

After continuing on this journey for many years (and adding a total of 6 children to the mix), she was so struck with the “connection results” that she started a podcast, “Read Aloud Revival” and wrote The Read-Aloud Family book [affiliate link]. Her podcast is: https://readaloudrevival.com/podcasts/. I also recommend her website – she even has booklists and a quiz for personalized book recommendations: https://readaloudrevival.com/recommends/.

In her book, she takes the “pleasure of a shared adventure” (click here for last week’s blogpost) to a new level by:

• Asking children 10 compelling questions about the book that lead to great conversations
• Teaching children “the supreme importance of delight” in reading for pleasure
• Debunking 5 myths on the goal of reading aloud
• Finding ways to set ourselves up for a successful read aloud time
• Sharing ways to resist the “siren scream of the screen”
• Becoming a “literary matchmaker” on picking the best books for where your children are now

Summer seems like the best time to develop this excellent, life-changing read-aloud habit. So I wanted to spend a blogpost or two focused on it. I hope these posts encourage you to pursue the read-aloud habit for yourself and for the benefit of your connections with your children. If you need good ideas on books to get your started, besides The Read-Aloud Family, our two favorite anthologies are:

• Jim Trelease’s Read-Aloud Handbook, edited and revised by Cyndi Giorgis [affiliate link]
• Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt [affiliate link]

I have one more post on reading next week – magic keys to help the Reluctant Reader. If you have one of these special folks, you will be very encouraged!

QUESTION:  Have you pursued the habit of reading aloud with others? What results have you found? I’d love to hear your thoughts and observations. Please share in the comment section below.