.The girls seem to love the story. Of course, the older two generally drop off to sleep before the chapter is even done, so I doubt how much they actually retain. However, this is a good experience for all of us. I get practice with my skills at reading aloud and they are exposed to classic literature, something they may not otherwise.
This got me thinking about reading. I've realized that I'm a horrible reader at stories like these unless I am well familiar. I don't know the proper inflection and emphasis, and I'm horrible at making it up on the fly. I need to practice with a book before I'm ready to read it for an audience, even if it is just children. To some degree, I'm finding that I have a hard time following the track of the story myself because I'm not a wonderful reader. I get the general gist of it, but I miss some of the more subtle and wonderful details.
Reading is something there isn't much emphasis put on in this country. Children learn to read and that's all well and good, but they don't really learn to read well. It seems the idea is to get them to read each individual word on the page and understand the general context, but they aren't expected to be able to read it for an audience. They aren't expected to bring the story to life with a richness and depth, the way I've hear good readers do. It makes the story so much less enjoyable.
I have to say, there is a difference. I remember there was this Grisham novel, though I couldn't say which. I tried to read it on my own, but I hated it. I swore I would never read any of his works. It was just so dry and wordy that I couldn't possibly plow my way through it. That summer my mother decided to bring it with us on our road trip to Williamsburg, Virginia. I rolled my eyes at the thought and figured it would be a good excuse to sleep the whole way. However, once I heard the reader's beautiful, rich, deep voice with that accent most associate with a Southern gentleman, I was sold. The words positively dripped off his tongue and I was so drawn into the story that I had completely forgotten I hated it and couldn't bear to read through it. The same goes for many classic works as well. I had tried to read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
, but I could never bear to put myself through it until I heard Chip's narration while listening to CraftLit.Perhaps more emphasis should be put on not only reading, but reading well. If there was more reason to read out loud, and read the story two or three times to perfect the telling, readers in this country would be better for it. The solution seems to be reading aloud as often as possible and to anyone who will listen. Read to the dog if that's what it takes, but read. The more you do it, the better you'll get.
At my house, I'm starting with simply reading to the children. My partner and I have decided we need to sit down and read novels to each other, just for something fun we can share. We want to focus on the classics, taking turns with reading through chapters. Maybe some day I'll turn it into a special book club. Instead of just meeting each week to discuss the book, we'll meet up and actually read the book together, like in school, and then share our thoughts on the piece. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
In the end, I hope that my children don't suffer the same fate. I hope they have a chance to view the world from the eyes of a wonderful reader, someone who can bring to life the very feel of a story through their own voice and tone. I hope they share that with their children, far off when they have their own. Most of all, I hope that they learn to love books as much as I do. I hope they see the value of these stories I hold so dear, and, unlike their mother, don't have to wait until adulthood to learn to bring those stories to life.
Actually they you have discovered one of the tricks they always suggest, read the book so you are prepared to read it to the kids. It gives you a better idea of how to read the book aloud if you know what is coming.
ReplyDeleteYour library probably has a copy of Jim Trealese's Read Aloud Handbook. He makes great suggestions for selecting books and sharing them aloud with kids. The book also has some great lists of books to read that you may or may not have read yourself.
J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan is not watered-down, either! I actually have my dd reading that right now, too. =)
ReplyDeleteAlso the Library should have it on CD-audiobook--ours does!
You know they actually have schools that bring dogs in and let the struggling readers read to the dog. You might try having your eldest read to the bunny. Animals are very non-judgemental when it comes to reading aloud and oddly never seem to mind hearing the same story over and over. It gives the child a chance to practice and you freedom to be doing something else. When you actually want to hear her read to see what she is able to read aloud to you, then it is a time where both of you are focused on the process. The more she can read independently, the more time she and the bunny can read together.
ReplyDeleteReading with the bunny is a wonderful idea! Of course, that would mean Baxt would have to be up for it and not hiding, but he's becoming a little more social with the kids these days. It's definitely a good place to start.
ReplyDeleteSadly, our library doesn't have much in the way of anything for audio books. Most of them are novels for adults. However, I do have another option, though I'll have to do a lot of listening ahead to find good copies. Librivox (I think the website is librivox.org) does free audio for books that are in the public domain, read by volunteers. They've got a good deal on there. I'm actually thinking I should practice reading some of these stories, then bust out the microphone we have and put one up myself, perhaps something that's not already on there. It's definitely good practice reading. If I'm well practiced at reading, then my daughter will have more incentive too!