Catherine has a reading time every morning where, after spelling, grammar and math, she and Harry head into their bedroom and pick out a few books that she reads to him. This was my idea and it's brilliant. Catherine practices her reading, they have some bonding time together and I get 30-45 minutes to veg on the couch with chocolate and The People's Court (yes I watch it. Be quiet.).
Yesterday my neice was up so Catherine had an audience of two to read to. She picked out several books but that one I heard her read was 'Go Dogs, Go!'
She did an absolutely fantastic job. She read with feeling and an ear to making the story thrilling for the kids. When she got to a part that needed extra emphasis she had Harry and Madi yell out the lines with her. When she was at a page with lots of action, say dogs climbing a tree, she'd embellish and then have the kids urge the dogs to climb faster and higher.
See, I'll be thrilled when both my kids are skilled and smooth readers but what I really want is for them both to be able to read out loud and capture the interest of others. I'm not sure why that's important, just that it's a skill I admire in others and enjoy using myself. It was wonderful to hear her.
5 comments:
I agree, reading well out loud is a very important skill and it's so much fun to watch it develop.
I know exactly what you mean!
I do storytime at my bookstore once a week, and my son (age 9) has started doing the reading. And he's good too!
It has worked out better than I'd ever expected. The children aren't intimidated by him because he's "one of them" rather than an adult reading to them.
And reading aloud, expressively, is an important skill. I'm always surprised to see adults who can't.
Me too. I can't imagine reading out loud without doing it expressively - How boring would that be for both parties?
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Thanks for participating and blessings to you and yours this Thanksgiving weekend!
It's a pleasure when to hear a kid who loves to read. The other day, I took advantage of my sore throat to persuade my 8-year-old son to read to me. What a joy!
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