I've mentioned this many times before: I struggled with reading growing up. In fact, I've much improved since college. And that's likely why, as I've written about before, I have a love for audio books.
My love for listening to books probably also harkens back to Sonlight's Read-Alouds which were foundational to my education.
Thus, I was very interested in Jerri Ann's post about reading to her son. I've seen similar questions on Sonlight's Facebook page as well: What if my child doesn't want to read and would rather I read out loud?
Me?
I tell 'em: Do it! Read to your children! Especially if they struggle with the mechanics of reading, as I did. There is plenty of time--even after college--to develop the skills necessary to find pleasure in reading to yourself.
Literacy is important. Being able to read is essential. But does that mean that we must love the act of letting our eyes flow over the page? Is that the important element of books? Is that the goal of learning?
No.
The power of books are the stories and the worlds they contain. And Sonlight's books, in particular, allow us to experience history in a powerful and memorable way. And listening is just as effective a way of learning as reading to yourself. And there is little better than spending time together listening to the same story that mom or dad is reading.
~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father
P.S. We tried to fix an area of confusion on our site earlier today and probably just confused more people until we figured out what was wrong. But such is the life of web content <smile>. Had you visited select pages on Sonlight's website today you would have encountered this:
Limited Voting Quantities
Which reminds me: Don't forget to vote for the Sonlight catalog cover.
Sounds like you've got it worked out pretty well for your family, Heather... even if you don't get to do much of the reading <smile>.
~Luke
My husband doesn't enjoy reading, but he loves books. He's always got an audiobook in his ear. My son likes to be read to, my daughter likes to read out loud. Suddenly I am not doing much reading aloud in school.
Lisa, I still love listening to someone read books, but I'm discovering that I like reading them aloud too! <smile> It's a wonderful thing to do.
Sue, thanks for sharing! I'm glad that Sonlight has been such a blessing in your life. Keep up the great work. <smile>
~Luke
This post encouraged me so much. My oldest son is ten and is just starting to read more. He does not enjoy reading lots. He does love books and listening to me read (as well as audio books).
I really have to say thanks to Sonlight for all the great books that he won't let me put down. It's not like I was planning on stopping any time soon, but your post reminded me that I'm doing something really important for all of my kids by reading to them daily. Thanks for sharing this!
Though my boys (ages 12 and 9) are avid readers, they still beg me to read aloud with them at night. We're currently reading A Father's Promise together, even though our 9-year-old has already read it. He says it sounds better hearing it from Mom. :)