Do you want to teach your kids Shakespeare? Do you want to them to carry a love for The Bard in their hearts, and remember passages from the most famous plays ever written?Maybe your answer is YES! BUT … Shakespeare seems overwhelming. And adding it feels stressful.So today, RAR Community Director Kortney Garrison and I are breaking down how to teach Shakespeare in a simple, low-pressure way that your kids will actually enjoy and look back on fondly.In this episode, you’ll hear:a million ways to teach Shakespeare (and maybe only one you want to avoid)how to start with your goals when creating a Shakespeare teaching planwhat Kortney and I actually do Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/206/. To join us for the "Reading as Refreshment" Retreat on 1/31-2/1, join RAR Premium. 

When Mandy called in to ask about her daughter, who likes to be read to, but doesn’t really enjoy reading herself, I was all ears.If you can relate, consider: when your child was 2, 3, 4 … did he/she like being read to? Most small children LOVE being read to. They climb right into your lap and relish every minute.It’s about the story, yes, but it’s also about the connection. We really, really want our kids to love reading. So naturally, we worry when they don’t. I wonder if that same connection is what our non-reading kids are actually seeking. We’re often tempted to think our kids are lazy, or aren’t true readers, but laziness is rarely at play here (especially in the case of a dyslexic child). So why don’t some of our kids love reading? And what on earth can we do about it? That’s what I’m addressing today on the podcast from a mama who suspects her child may be dyslexic, and worries that she doesn’t enjoy reading.In this episode, you’ll hear:Why kids may prefer being read to (hint: it’s not because they’re lazy!)Whether it’s OK to do a lot of reading aloud to older kids (short answer: heck yes)How different modalities make reading accessible at a different levelFind the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/205/. To join us for the "Reading as Refreshment" Retreat on 1/31-2/1, join RAR Premium. 

We get many questions about how I organize books in my home library, and today we’re talking all about it.I’m going to break down my system and hopefully help spark ideas for how to best organize books at your house. Here’s the thing: Your home library should serve your family’s reading life. And that might mean organizing it in a different way than you think.It also means the organization isn’t the goal. (Keep reading to see what I mean.)I’ll give you a peek at a few of my own bookshelves throughout this post, which are definitely not gorgeous or Instagram-worthy. 😅 But they areuseable. And they’re used… a lot!In this episode:how to focus on your home library’s goal (which may be different than you think!)how to cut down on time searching for booksideas for organizing your family’s books without making it a full-time jobFind the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/204/. To join us for the "Reading as Refreshment" Retreat on 1/31-2/1, join RAR Premium. 

Do your kids read for fun in high school? According to Dr. Daniel Willingham in Raising Kids Who Read, the average high schooler reads 6 minutes per day for pleasure. What that really means, he explains, is that a few kids read for pleasure quite a lot… and most don’t read for pleasure at all.Karen recently called in to ask me what my own kids read for fun in high school… and I’ve got lots of suggestions in this post!In this episode, you’ll hear:deciding what goal you have for your high schooler’s reading lifewhether high school reading should be “hard”tons of recommendations from my teens and adult children (weird, I now have 2 of those!)Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/203/. To join us for the "Reading as Refreshment" Retreat on 1/31-2/1, join RAR Premium. 

If you have a child who struggles with sad stories…a child who gets really uncomfortable when bad things happen and wants you to stop reading (or wants to stop reading themselves)… then this episode is for you.And actually, it’s for them, too! In fact, it’s an episode you might like to listen to with your kids.In this episode, you’ll hear:What to do if your kids get upset while reading sad storiesWhy you can predict what terrible thing might be coming (and when in the story it’ll happen)What the author is doing and whyHow to help your kids hang on to the story, and get all the way through to the hopeFind the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/202/. To join us for the "Reading as Refreshment" Retreat on 1/31-2/1, join RAR Premium. 

Are you or your kids feeling overwhelmed by a long book list? Today I’m sharing how reading fewer books (yup!) can help our kids love books more.Yep. We’re going to talk about reading fewer books. What could it mean for your kids’ reading lives (and yours too!), to focus on reading fewer books and making the time spent reading them more enjoyable and richer?Maybe even to have a reading life that is rich, relaxed, and leisurely? If you or your kids are overwhelmed by a long book list, this sounds pretty great, right?Tune in or read on to hear:The difference between reading a book and completing a bookWhy my own kids don’t track the number of books readHow to make time for (quite possibly) the best kind of readingFind the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/201/. To join us for the "Reading as Refreshment" Retreat on 1/31-2/1, join RAR Premium. 

We’re just a little excited here at RAR this week.First, it’s our 200th episode! 🥳And second, it’s March, which here in the northern hemisphere meets *melting*. It also means a new season, and it’s a great time to name what matters, and set some intentions for how we want to finish out this homeschool year.This week, the whole team will walk you through a simple process we’ve been using here at RAR in order to name what matters – and how to get there.In this episode, you’ll hear:How to name what matters most this spring Your FREE cheat sheet to making a plan for your own homeschool that’s doableAnd … what we’re reading this spring! 📚🌱Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/200/. To join us for the "Reading as Refreshment" Retreat on 1/31-2/1, join RAR Premium. 

Every year, our Read-Aloud Revival Team watches the American Library Association Youth Media Awards together.These are the official awards of ALA. Some you’ll recognize, like the Caldecott, the Newbery and the Coretta Scott King Awards. But others are not quite as well known …The ALA Youth Media Awards honor books that have been published in the previous year, so this year’s awards ceremony in January 2022 was honoring books that had been published in the year 2021 only.For this episode the RAR team gathered together to talk about the announcements that made us cheer, the familiar faces that we loved seeing win, and … …just a few books that we think should have gotten some ALA love. 😉Tune in to hear:about our favorite book winners and people who took home honorsother books published in 2021 that the RAR team lovestons of book recommendations! (Don’t worry – they’re all linked below!)Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/199/. To join us for the "Reading as Refreshment" Retreat on 1/31-2/1, join RAR Premium. 

“Which curriculum should I use?” It’s the question I get asked most often. I suspect there’s another layer just underneath the surface of that question. A layer that sounds a bit like, “I’m tired. I’m overwhelmed. I don’t want to screw this up. Can you just tell me which curriculum is the best, so I don’t mess this really important thing up?”At least, that’s the kind of thing that went through my mind back in my early homeschooling days, when I asked that question myself.I’m answering this very question on today’s podcast episode. Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/198/. To join us for the "Reading as Refreshment" Retreat on 1/31-2/1, join RAR Premium. 

If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you want to read more, but are struggling to do it as much as you’d like. It can be a real challenge to find time to read for pleasure in your already busy day. I get it!On today’s episode of the Read-Aloud Revival, I’m sharing all my best tips to help you read more, ditch the guilt (this is part of your job, right?), and fall back in love with your own reading life.In this episode you’ll hear…what to do when you’re in a season of it feeling impossible to cultivate your own reading lifehow to find time to read (really!)how to get some recommendations from me Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/197/. To join us for the "Reading as Refreshment" Retreat on 1/31-2/1, join RAR Premium.