Read-Aloud Revival ®

Early on, pretty much everyone in my world told me we were making a huge mistake in homeschooling.It was weird, it was unknown to them, and of course, we are afraid of things that are weird and unknown. I actually didn’t know anyone in my personal life who was homeschooling.I read some blogs and books (of course!), but I just had a very strong hunch that we should do this home education thing. So we did, and I’m so glad. I loved it – not every minute of it (ha!) – but now that my oldest kids are adults, I’m so grateful for the time I got with them during all of those growing up years. Today, I have a treat for you. My oldest daughter, Audrey – 20 years old at the time we’re recording this, just finished her sophomore year at Franciscan University of Steubenville as an English major, and she is joining me on the show. Audrey was homeschooled her entire education.And there were some rocky years! When Audrey was 12 – so you know, 6th grade-ish, I also had a 10-year-old, an 8-year-old, a 1 year-old, and twin newborns. Yes. Three babies age 1 and under. It was… a lot.We’re going to talk about that, plus:what was most helpful for Audrey’s futuredid she feel “prepared,” for going away to college and becoming an adult? (you’re going to love her answer, I think!)what she really remembers about that time with babies (💗 😭) Mama’s with newborns – you just need to hear this. 💖We’re also answering YOUR questions!Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/209/.

Summer is almost here.And probably, you have things you’d like to do this season. Maybe lots of things! (Perhaps … too many things? 😬)Not to fear! In this episode, the RAR Leadership Team is back to share an easy tool for determining your direction this summer.In this episode, you’ll hear:how setting a compass will help us this summerwhy (in homeschooling) a compass is more helpful than a mapquestions to ask yourself as you choose your own directionFind the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/208/.

When I was a kid, I read voraciously. I could lose myself for hours in stacks and stacks of books. The reading wasn’t that high quality, mind you. I could usually be found reading The Babysitter’s Club or a Christian historical romance, though I also loved Roald Dahl and Lois Lowry (anyone else remember the Anastasia Krupnik series?) and nonfiction, too. Then I became a mom, and reading felt decadent. I read books to nurture my marriage, how-to books on parenting (some far better than others, ahem). But overall, reading just got… harder. It was something I did to improve myself. Not something I got swept away in.Reading for pleasure felt like a splurge, and often it was a splurge I couldn’t figure out how to justify. But here’s the thing — reading for fun is part of the job.My life is richer when I’m reading for pleasure, and so is my kids’! In fact, I’ve found that their reading lives feed off the energy in mine. So how am I going to nurture my own reading life this summer? And what might get in the way?It’s a question worth asking for all of us, and joining me to ask it today on the podcast are RAR Community Director, Kortney Garrison and Managing Editor, Kara Anderson.In this episode, you’ll hear:Why reading is a priority in our lives (hint: it’s not too decadent!)Ways to nurture your reading life this summer How to know what to readFind the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/207/.

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/.

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/.

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/.

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/.

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/.

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/.

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/.