Reading aloud as a family

If you were to come to our home for a visit, one of the first things you would notice is a plethora of books. Our family values books, and they have a special place in our hearts. Reading books aloud often allows our family to make meaningful connections with each other and our faith.

These books, through their narration, cadence, and rhythm seep into our minds and form deep bonds in our family. They help us walk in someone’s shoes or escape our own world into another one like the snowy woods of Narnia. The stories contained in the pages captivate our minds and imaginations, delving us deep into our critical thinking skills and at the same time drawing us closer to our creator. Stories remind us of the triumph of good over evil and should leave us feeling hopeful.

For our oldest child, stories have become her source of play. One day she’s “Ma” from Little House on the Prairie, another day it’s Mary taking care of Jesus from the Nativity stories in the Gospel, or off to Italy for the tales from Strega Nona. We have many Arch Books, which share a Bible story in a fun, rhythmic rhyme while remaining true to the biblical text. These Arch Books taught our daughter a number of Bible stories and provided many hours of play. My daughter’s knowledge of Bible stories grows through the liturgical seasons and so does mine!

Stories become engraved into our hearts and minds, and the lessons they provide come out in real life. I remind my daughter to be obedient by telling her that she doesn’t want to be like Jonah. She knows Jonah was disobedient to God. I can remind her to be kind and generous like Strega Nona. Books often have heroic virtues that our children can emulate. Most recently we listened to The Wizard of Oz and we used the Lion acting with courage in spite of being scared as a foundation of what courage looks like for our daughter as she learns to ride a bike.

Reading aloud to your child allows your child to fully take in a story. They do not have the hard work of decoding or figuring out the cadence; it’s done for them by your reading. Growing up, I remember my favorite time of the school day was read-aloud time where my teacher read stories to us. I loved it so much that when I was a fifth grade teacher, reading aloud was a sacred time in my classroom. I fought hard to maintain that daily 15 minutes of reading to my students. When I teach third grade religious education, I have my students do the hard work of looking up a Bible verse or finding a Catechism paragraph that correlated to our lesson. I choose to read everything to my students for their sakes, not mine. I want my students to be able to dive into the event of Pentecost—to feel the howling wind of the Holy Spirt and not be concerned with how to say Pentecost. By reading to them, none of them needed to be nervous of their lack of skill, or feel insecure because there are harder and unfamiliar words in scripture. They only had to show up and listen.

As a parent all you have to do is show up. What I mean by that is grab a book, any book, and read cuddled up on the couch or in bed. If you as a parent have a hard time reading aloud, find an audiobook and cuddle up or gather around the table to color/draw/eat. For our family, often our days are formed by this “read aloud” format. We read books and scripture in the morning and at lunch we learn about a saint or read a beautifully illustrated picture book. Sometimes the afternoon is filled with craft time with audio books playing in the background. At the end of the day, there is one final read-aloud story, and an audiobook for the older one to listen to while falling asleep. I enjoy listening to a book as I work on a project, clean the house, or do the dishes. We love to listen to stories in the car, often times driving around the block a few extra times to hear “just a few minutes more.”

I encourage you to start making your own meaningful connections as a family through reading aloud, whether you have big kids and/or little ones. I guarantee it will change your life and your family culture.
 
Resources:

• Read Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie. More resources can be found at readaloudrevival.com
• The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease
• The Catholic Children’s Bible from St. Mary’s Press
• Picture Book of Saints by Lawrence G. Lovasik
• Anything by Tomie dePaola
• Audible for audio books
• Librivox for free audio books

Katie Zubrod is a parishioner of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Reynolds and a wife and mother of two children.