Read Me a Story

Self-reflection is often a moment-by-moment reality for me. I have discovered at times that the very thing I saw as a failure, later became what I considered to be one of my greatest triumphs.  That, my friends, is growth.  Hopefully I do not have many times where my triumphs become my failures, but that too has happened, especially when pride comes into play. 

One of my early failures in home schooling my children was the lack of reading out loud to them. Actually, this is a case of triumph, failure, followed once again by triumph.  Those are times that the seasons of our life are reflected. 

I began early with the triumph of reading aloud to my children.  I would often read aloud, even to the dog.  Anyone who would listen, I would read to.  I tired of reading Kate the Kitten.  To this day, nearly thirteen years later, I can read the book without even seeing it.             

As my family grew, that triumph of reading aloud began to wane. With several small children who grew up on hours of television, their attention spans were slight.  When I did read, they were impatient, so I read asfastasIcouldtogetthestoryfinished.

As home-school demands grew, and more children entered the picture, the last thing I wanted to do at night was battle the restless, noisy children to get them to let me read to them. 

I longed to read to my kids, but it just didn’t seem to be fitting in my plans.  Many years ago I decided I didn’t like the workbook curricula that was so plentiful.  I wanted to keep having fun with my kids.  But how could I home school them and still have fun? 

I began to read to them again.  I started off slowly at first.  The first chapter book I read to them was Little House on the Prairie.  It was quite frustrating for me to say the least.  The kids would talk, fight, fidget, etc.  I thought they should sit still and be enthralled.  But they weren’t.  They were bored and they were tired.  In frustration I yelled at them to just be still!

Then it dawned on me, “Do they HAVE to be still when I read?”  I decided they didn’t have to be still, they only had to be quiet.  Thus began the quiet training.  As long as they were playing quietly, I noticed they were retaining a lot of what I read.  

I also noticed they enjoyed sharing the day’s stories with Daddy at the dinner table.  They would tell him all about Paul Revere, or Johnny Appleseed, or whatever we were reading about that day.  It became a precious time for me to hear them excitedly sharing their “school” with Dad.  

I’ve noticed that I can use our reading time as a barometer to measure my life.  When my life gets hectic, I tend to set the reading aside.  I also noticed that when my life gets hectic, I begin to feel more like a failure.  I’ve seen that when I spend an hour or so reading to the kids, I feel like we’ve accomplished something.

With eight children I’ve had to learn quite a bit about reading out loud to them.  Each of the younger children has had to be trained to play quietly.  That means there is a season that I am reading with a toddler on my lap.  Or it may mean that I have to allow frequent interruptions to offer some training.  But those training times have lasting rewards. 

Another thing I’ve done is set up some drawers with crayons, markers, etc., that the kids can easily reach for quiet coloring or drawing.  But even better is when the younger ones have their own notebooks that correspond with the ones we’re working on.  I will give them maps, puzzles, etc.  They feel like they are doing school right along with everyone.  And they are!  

It amazes me when I discover the little kids are learning.  Sometimes the books do soar right over their heads; but even then, they greatly benefit by hearing great literature—even when they are only two years old.   

I recently discovered another great way to read aloud to my children.  That is through books on cassette.  Some people may think that is cheating, but I do not.  It would be especially good for quiet training for the little ones.  The book still goes on, but Mom can train a younger child without interrupting the story.    Also, read aloud time can come in the car, on busy days, and even if Mom has to be gone for a day. 

The only problem I have now is that there are so many books and just not enough time! 

In addition to devoting herself to her husband and the eight children she home schools, Terri also enjoys writing and speaking to offer encouragement to women in an effervescent, humorous way. Visit her Web site at www.ignitethefire.com or e-mail her at terri@ignitethefire.com. 

Originally published October 09, 2001.