Reading aloud is more than getting through the chapters to the end. Reading to your children is a chance for them to experience you—your values, your priorities, your heartfelt connection to life itself.
My daughter Johannah called me from college. “That’s why you cried,” she said.
Johannah had always wondered why I couldn’t get through the end of Charlotte’s Web without leaking tears. It’s that final sentence. It gets me every time.
“It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.”
Charlotte was both—sob! I’m all choked up again.
When Johannah was a child, this line seemed like a matter-of-fact statement about Charlotte. Johannah wondered what feelings I was having that she wasn’t. As a newly minted college student, Johannah reread the book to find out. Cue adulthood, and she experienced a different reaction to those legendary lines. She saw their poignancy, the subtle way E.B. White affirmed writers for their craft, and the power of loyalty in friendship until death. Values—she now understood—demonstrated in my tears, a decade earlier.
When we read to our kids, we aren’t just conveying words or a narrative. Our living, breathing reactions make impressions too.
We show an appreciation for courage or hardship,
we laugh at the plays on words,
we smile with delight at alliterative phrases,
we demonstrate surprise or moral outrage.
Our children, listening along, take in the story and adult response—both. Even when they don’t quite “get it yet.” These shared experiences with you form the bedrock of their values.
Next time you feel a little chagrined by your inability to read without tears streaming down your cheeks—let them flow. Let your children see the good, compassionate, sensitive feeling the story evokes from you.
There are 7 key ideas (or so) that are good to know when practicing a Brave Writer Lifestyle.
Key Ideas
1. Jot down your child’s words when you hear an act of spontaneous passionate self expression. Value your child’s thoughts and get them written. Read them back later to an interested audience (family). Watch your child discover joy at being read and a reason to write.
2. Immerse your children in a language-rich environment—books, poetry teatime, big juicy conversations, movies, comic books, jokes, and lots of writing implements to explore.
3. You create an invisible education for your child with the atmosphere of your home and family life. Kindness matters. So does telling the truth and not pretending. Give your children a healthy family life, and improve the quality of your homeschool. Get help if you need it—no shame in that.
4. You get one life. It matters that you like the one you’re living. Home educating your kids can be a grand adventure—yours. When it stops feeling that way, find out why and make adjustments. No child wants to be the source of a parent’s unhappiness.
5. Your curiosity is enough for your homeschool and is just as important as your child’s (could be argued that it’s more important). Trust it to lead you.
6. Do one thing. Just one. Prepare. Do it well. Be present. Remember it fondly. Then do another thing.
7. Homeschooling is cutting-edge education reform. You are Charlotte Mason or John Holt. You and your family are testing and experimenting with new tactics every day, and will contribute insights to the project of education for all. Thank you for risking your kids. I salute you!
This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebravewriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!
Nature journaling is a way of writing, drawing and reflecting through observations and art. Kids get to uncover countless mysteries and surprises as they interact with the wondrous world around them!The best part?
While your kids are grabbing their notebooks and sun hats, you know they are interacting with earth science, art, math and getting the benefits of physical education.
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