We love a good book in this house, and since everyone really enjoyed our recent reads, I thought I would share with you what we read in February and our current homeschool read alouds.
Although my eldest two children (8 and 10) are more than capable of reading to themselves – and do, I am definitely an advocate for family read alouds.
Reading a book together as a family brings us all together. It’s a connection that we can share usually at the end of the day, but that lasts for years to come. It brings little inside jokes, things to talk about and something to enjoy together. As my children get older I believe that connection is more important than ever, and also harder to achieve. As much as I try and take an interest in minecraft I just don’t love it, or understand it like they do, and my lack of enthusiasm shows.
Reading aloud to my children also provides them with the chance to listen and engage with texts beyond their own reading level which is extremely beneficial for vocabulary development. It also means we can explore themes that they may not be ready to explore alone.
If you haven’t read the book “The read aloud family” by Sarah Mackenzie I highly recommend it. It goes into detail about the importance of read alouds, not just up until the age your children are able to read independently, but beyond.
February Read Alouds.
During February we had two read alouds.
Our first is part of our home ed work, and is Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets. I am reading this to Noah and Phoebe whilst they work through a unit study with the ‘build your library’ literary curriculum. https://buildyourlibrary.com So far they are really enjoying the book, and whilst sometimes it’s frustrating not to be able to read more than one chapter, I love using the curriculum to really delve deeper into the text. It’s definitely working for our family, and I will continue to work through the Harry Potter books in this way.
If you would like any information or a build your library curriculum review please let me know in the comments below.
Our bedtime February read aloud was the 7th book in a series of unfortunate events; The vile village. We began the series last summer and all of us – me included, absolutely love it. It has everything you want from a book, lovable lead characters, suspense, humour, adventure and of course a Villain! There is also a Netflix series, and whilst it can be quite different to the books, we love finishing a book and then watching it in screen form afterwards. It provides a great lesson in comparing text and screen, and how certain books translate into different media’s.
Whilst we may choose to pick something else up for the evenings every now and then, I imagine we will keep reading through the series until we have read all 13 books.
What the children are reading to me.
Alongside read alouds, I think children reading out loud to an adult is a really important skill for a child. It prepares them for public speaking in the future, and according to Psychologist Colin MacLeod, people consistently remember words and texts better if they read them aloud than if they read them silently. As part of our daily home school rhythm Noah and Phoebe both have a book each that they read aloud to me. These books are usually chosen together. Sometimes they are books that I think will push their reading, as well as open up conversations that we may not usually have, other times they are chosen purely for pleasure. However generally I want these books to spark further learning whilst being enjoyable, and open them up to literature that they may otherwise skip past when we visit the library.
This month Phoebe (8) has been reading “How I became a dog called midnight” by Ben Miller. I chose this for her for a couple of reasons. Firstly it was recommended to us by a friend as a fun read, Phoebe recently read “How I fell into a fairy tale” also by Ben Miller and really enjoyed it, but the main reason was that Phoebe is petrified of dogs. She was reluctant to even read the back, but I thought it would be beneficial for her to read a lighthearted story that included a loveable (& somewhat magical) dog, and so she agreed to try the first few chapters.
Phoebe has almost finished it now and it’s been a great read for her. Full of adventure, magic & mystery, she’s even warmed to the dog and we’ve had positive discussions about a dog’s loyalty, likes and dislikes etc. It certainly hasn’t cured her fear of dogs, but it has definitely helped her to see them in a different light which is a positive step in the right direction. The main character is also home educated which was a nice surprise and not something we’ve come across in a modern child’s book.
Noah’s (10) first book choice was “Boy Giant” by Michael Morpurgo, and after finishing it fairly quickly he opted for a second Morpurgo book “Shadow”.
Both of these books whilst quite different, are both beautifully written and share the story of a young boy fleeing a war torn Afghanistan to start a new life in England. Both explore themes that are very real, and even though we are a military family and my husband has spent time in Afghanistan they brought up conversations that we just haven’t had with our children. Michael Morpurgo doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects, but the human aspect of loss, friendship and hope in both books is so strong you can’t help but fall in love with the characters, have empathy for their individual stories and not want to put either book down.
Both books but particularly ‘Shadow’ opened up conversations about asylum and what it means to be a refugee, we’ve spoken about trafficking, people crossing the English Channel, we’ve discussed immigration, detention centres, what it must feel like to have to leave your country, and laws around crossing borders. We’ve explored the reasons some British people fear those wanting to come over, and have questioned whether those people would have the same fears had they read these books, or got to know those coming over on a personal level and really heard their stories.
So much learning and conversation has come from reading these books. I feel that if Noah had decided to read any of these alone then perhaps the opportunities to have these conversations would have been missed. He has loved reading both books and I have equally enjoyed listening to them. We haven’t chosen the next book he will read to me just yet but we already know it will be something else by Michael Morpurgo. If you have any recommendations please let us know in the comments.
Individual reading.
So whilst Noah (10) and Phoebe (8) have books they read to me, and books we read together, they also both have their own books they read completely independently. These are books they have complete control over, and are generally chosen and read for no other reason but pleasure. They are usually something that interests them, or has caught their eye at the library. They tend to be easier reads than they are capable of, with lighthearted themes (perfect for bedtime reading) or even non fiction.
Noah has recently been making his way through a number of David Walliums books, his choice for February was “Bad Dad”. This was chosen purely as it was the only Walliums book left in the library. Funnily enough it has turned out to be one of his favourites. He is also reading through the ultimate football hero’s books, and as he finished Bad dad he started the Time Hunter series as a neighbour gave us loads that they had finished with.
Phoebe continued to read “Gansta Granny” by David Walliums, and has also swapped her bedtime reading around with a non fiction gymnastics book she picked up at the library, alongside currently working her way through the grimms fairy tale collection.
Whilst I generally don’t think there is a need for a child to read more than one book at a time, actually I think choosing one and finishing it before moving on has great benefits, having these books to read in various different ways doesn’t overwhelm my children. Each individual book serves a different purpose and contributes positively to their love of reading and social and academic education.
If you have enjoyed reading this blog and would like me to include more book reviews and share what we are reading on here please let me know in the comments. Equally if you have any recommendations that your children have loved I would love to hear them.
Until next time ……. Happy Reading
