Sarah, my daughter, in a lovely, favorite book shop in Oxford. It is so “her! “
Before Sarah, my first born, was born, I devoured every book and article I could about all of the wonderful ways parents could invest in their children’s minds and lives. Every article I read said that if a parent read aloud to children, and gave them a habit of listening to great stories and then asked questions to allow the children to synthesize what they had heard, that it would literally feed the brain and develop strong intellect.
And so, from the moment Sarah came to our home, I was talking to her, singing to her and then holding her in my lap reading, reading, reading to her even as a small baby. Sarah began to associate love with reading and being held. Fast forward, our home was filled with lots of things to do–papers and coloring books, legos, dress up clothes, puzzles, musical instruments, and of course piles and piles of books and baskets of books and shelves of books. Our family culture was to value words and ideas and to talk about them all. We allowed our children to be children and did not force work books or curriculum on them at an early age. We simply read and let them play and pretend and build and talk and do chores and write and draw.
Last year, as Sarah was considering how she would invest her life long term, she took a pre-entrance exam for Harvard, in case she would ever get to attend there. Her thinking was, “Until God leads me to marriage, what legacy do I want to leave that might bring light to the world of education and philosophy that is a talent and skill of mine?” Of course she thought of literature and creative writing and stories. So, she took the test and made a perfect score–amazed me, but shouldn’t have, because her appetites for life were begun on hundreds and hundreds of books read out-loud in our home.
Now, a dream come true, she is getting to spend a semester in Oxford to hone her skills as a writer and to invest further in her personal education.
It all started from gathering her on my lap, and reading exciting stories and enjoying them together. Our home life was simple and fun and natural. below is another great encouragement from a beloved best selling children’s author.
And it just happens that in the evening, as a therapy to get away from the stress of organizing conferences, producing musical albums, writing books, we light the fire, gather on the couches and take turns reading. We do not always find the time to do it, but right now, Joel, Joy, Clay and I have gone back to the beloved Chronicles of Narnia. Each of us is taking turns using our most dramatic voices and it is such a soothing way to end an evening to visit with familiar and encouraging characters who are a part of our soul.
**************************************************************************************
This morning, I have been receiving lots of mail about how to find great books–read Sarah’s book, Read for the Heart, which is our family’s history of reading aloud, as well as Educating the Whole Hearted Child has lots of books of our favorites listed in the back.
And below is another voice, a beloved author of children’s stories. Let His voice encourage you–to read.
I absolutely love reading aloud to my children! It is my favorite thing of the day. Thank you for sharing this!
This is awesome! I started reading chapter books to my boys last fall and it’s been wonderful. We are currently reading through the Narnia series as well. We’re almost done with The Nephew’s Magician and it has been awesome to watch my boys faces light up and to hear my 5 year old tell me “Mommy that Lion is just like God in the creation story!”
We’re reading the Narnia series as well! I thought my six (almost seven) year old might be too young–but she’s not–and I love to hear others with 5 year olds reading these books! I am so thankful you recommended The Child’s Story Bible, Sally, because we’re on our second reading of it, too, and it makes family Bible reading so wonderful. Yes, reading aloud has definitely become a favorite part of my day.
Thanks for this encouragemnt to read to our children Sally. My 5 year old daughter has speech difficulties and I think I want to move away from “formal” curriculum for awhile and take this time to nurture a love of books and time with mommy. My boys are reaping the benefits and want to instill the love of books in my daughters (5 and 10 months).
May the Lord direct our steps.
Thank you for this post, Sally! I feel like this was in direct response to my plea for help the other day in creating a love for reading in my own children. They are still young, but I’m about 5 years behind with my son. Now that he ‘knows’ how to read, I want him to enjoy reading stories, his Bible, etc… but he just doesn’t. He’s physically capable, but his heart isn’t in it. He’d rather play outside instead! Thanks for your help. I already own Educating The Wholehearted Child so I’m excited to look in the back for the book list. Now, I just need to check into Sarah’s book.
Sally, the only thing better than reading a wonderful story is sharing it with somebody I love! We, too, are reading through all of Narnia–we started “The Last Battle” Tuesday, and at the first sentence I teared up; I’m not ready for Narnia to be over! Fortunately my youngest is only 5; I’m quite certain we’ll have several more readings of the series before everybody’s grown!
I love all your posts, but those you write on reading touch my heart especially. Your encouragement to read aloud has blessed my children mightily–we’ve read through more books in the last 6 years than most kids read throughout all of their school years. Thank you
p.s. Sarah’s book is marvelous!
I own Sarah’s book, and I agree it is fabulous.
Seeing your post today is so providential. I wrote yesterday about Reading Aloud and how it is helping us get through a tough week after one of my children’s friends died suddenly last week. Reading good books has been a way for us to be together and sooth some hurting hearts.
I really appreciate this post today.
My husband and I are reading Pillars of the Earth aloud. We are going to have to plan a road trip. That’s when we read the most. Perhaps we should hibernate for a week or so in our very own home!
Susan
I very much enjoyed your article today. You remind me of myself and how I used to read with different voices to my sons and they would take the male roles and me the female and the books would come alive. It was great fun and to this day…. they are grown men now… they love to read! I treasure those years of homeschooling and being a true home-maker. It was the best years of my life. I still treasure the times I get together with our families. Your article written not too long ago showed you and your family sitting in your home and you all were reading and discussing together, having a good family time together. That touched me.
God bless you Sally and thanks for being the inspiration you are to many, many women who aspire to have families who reflect God and His word. Thank you.
we LOVE Tomie DePaola! Thanks for sharing this video and Sarah’s journey through reading! You inspire me to carve out more time for reading aloud, because we do so love it, but in life’s busyness, it is easy to push aside. Thank you for the reminders and encouragement!
Great piece. Thank you.
Thank you so much for this! Especially the bit about allowing your young children to just be children and not try to force curriculum or worksheets on them. My eldest is only three, but I already feel the pressure of trying to be sure she can read and write and add and do physics by age four! Thank you for the reminder, and the permission from an older and wiser mother, that it really is okay to just let them play and sing…and to read to them!
Dearest Sally,
I would love a list of good questions, from you, to ask my boys at the end of a book.
So much Love,
Michelle
I absolutely love reading aloud to my children. But, I must admit, when I was in the throes of parenting babies and toddlers and being pregnant (I had my first three children within 2 and a half years and the other two not far behind), I used to feel very guilty that I wasn’t reading aloud to them as much as other mothers were able to. My sweet Lord reminded me of something recently that has helped me with this. I was never read to as a child, not from what I remember, anyway, and yet stories are the most powerful thing in my life. I devour books, I dream almost every night, I love to write, I loved school, study and learning, I daydream all the time. I am not writing this to disagree with what Sally has written. I agree that reading aloud and giving children a love of learning and language early on is amazing. I just wanted to encourage any mothers who may feel like I have felt in the past. If we commit our parenting to God, our children will become whatever He wants them to be, despite our shortfalls.
I love your blog, Sally. It is in my list of ‘favourite favourites’.
Sarah is beautiful, and you have both deeply impacted our family with the emphasis on reading aloud to our kids. They will benefit greatly, I’m sure. I really appreciate her book and the numerous recommended book lists she gives for each category (history, poetry, etc). Wonderful resource.
Just wanted to say that I just love your dd’s book. I check it for ideas every couple months. It’s like I find little hidden treasures in there to share with my dc.
Your daughter is so lovely and kindly!