I came across a blog by Sarah Mackenzie called http://amongstlovelythings.com. She has a 31 day winter read-aloud challenge on her blog. Her challenge is to have my kids read aloud for 15 min a day, for 31 days. If they can’t read, they can make up a story using the pictures in the book.

The challenge got me to thinking about the benefits of reading out loud.

• My child would be reading more and exposed to more ideas, vocabulary, etc
• It would help my child practice their speech
• It would provide additional input to my child’s brain. Not only are they using their voice, but “hearing” it also – multi-sensory
•  It also helps the person they are reading too.

I look forward to hearing my oldest read to her 2 younger siblings. I also look forward to my 5 year old making up his own stories. I think that is a good skill to have. He may not be able to read a book yet, but he can use his creative juices to think up a good story.

Today was our first day or reading aloud. My 5 year old was very hesitant. I don’t know if he was scared to make up a story for fear that it would be wrong or I would get mad at him, or he just didn’t understand the concept. I finally managed to get him to make up a story using one of his easy reader Super Hero books. It took only a few minutes, not 15. We’ll work up to it. I’m anxious to see what happens to the stories as we do this everyday.

I found my 8 year old reading to my toddler. The timing wasn’t right since it was at bedtime and both were supposed to be in bed, but I zipped my lips and just let my oldest read. It was good practice.

I can’t wait to incorporate this practice on a daily basis and see what happens!