Unschool-ology

Unschool-ology
Unschooling: Living Without School; Living Free Range-Freedom to Learn What One Wants When One Wants

Friday, May 11, 2018

#ReadAloudRevival

I began reading aloud to Big S when she was first conceived. From there, I never stopped.

I started reading, because I was always told that it was "good" for them. And I kept going after she turned "school age" as a natural extension of our homeschooling. After she began to read independently, I kept reading aloud because I told her I wouldn't stop just because she could read herself.

I'm glad I didnt.

I never realized what reading meant to us.

But as we lay next to each other in bed, curled up, reading our new book, "A Long Walk to Water," recommended by the author of the "Read Aloud Revival," I get it. As we lay together, looking at what it means to live in South Sudan, shedding tears for the reality of it and trying to decide what we can do about it, I get it.

When we have our own inside jokes about Frindles and Absolutely True Stories, I get it.

When we spend an hour in the pool, putting on our own play version of Narnia, laughing at the funny voices we both make, I get it.

As we reminis about the hours that we have spent together on the bed, in the floor, on the couch, the ground, the trampoline, the hammock...crying, laughing, getting angry, being confused, and being together, I get it.

Reading Aloud. It sounds so simple. But it is among one of the most important things I can do with my children. We can travel and we can learn about the world together. For no money. Just a little time.

I get it.

#ReadAloudRevival