I do not like to admit this, especially because ALL homeschool moms seem to love to do this, but {deep breath}. . . I would rather do dishes than read aloud to my children. This makes me seem unloving, barbaric and not cool, but it is the plain and simple truth.

In spite of this, I chose Tapestry of Grace as our homeschool curriculum, which happens to be a curriculum that involves lots of reading aloud. And because I like the curriculum more than I dislike the reading aloud, when it comes time to wrestle down the two year old and ask the others to sit down and listen which inevitably ends up with the two-year-old trying to climb on top of the mantel and the other three fighting because so-and-so is touching their leg and the baby decides to explode out of her diaper as soon as I start reading read aloud to them, I can either do it miserably or I can think of ways to make it a lot more interesting for all of us.

So instead of going to the kitchen and making things dirty on purpose so that I won’t have to read aloud, I came up with a few ways that makes reading time better for Mommy and kiddos alike. These six ways are in no particular order and you may find that some won’t work for your family. That is okay. If you have trouble reading to your kids, then look for other ways that will fit your family dynamic.

• Turn off the TV. I am not talking about while you are reading (because I am certain you know that already). Rather, turn off the TV 99% of the time. When kids get used to flashy pictures, happy music and never-ending scenes of adventure, the books tend to seem. . .  well, boring. That is not what we want. If we want to open up the world of wonder that is reading, then we need to eliminate the junk-entertainment and feed them the whole food of book reading.
• Pick stories the kids are familiar with. My kids love to watch Peter Pan. (I know I said not to watch tv. I know, I know.) When they found out that it started as a book, they begged to hear Mommy read it. They enjoyed it because they knew about it first. There was no trying to figure out in their minds what was going on because they kinda-sorta knew the story line. If your kids are not used to being read aloud, this is especially helpful for them to get introduced to the notion.
• Enhance the reading. Try to do different voices for each character. Make your voice excited at a particularly happy part. Turn serious when someone in the story has done something wrong. Do not read the story in a monotone manner. We do not want to bore them but get them to see that books really are fun and a good way to be entertained.
• Don’t read too long. This one is just so very important. If your kids are young, do not try and read Moby Dick to them in one sitting. It just will not work. Everyone will end up cranky and beside the fact that that book is over their heads, they will not get as much out of it if they are having to digest too much at once. My general rule is no more than a chapter, or around 10-15 pages.
• Act the stories out after every chapter. After you read a chapter or your 10-15 pages or whatever you have set as your maximum pages read, have the kiddos act out what they heard. Do not expect them to put on a major theatrical play but let them show you what they heard. And trust me, they will love this.
• Let them run around outside first if they are too hyper. If my children are bouncing off the walls right before I want to read to them about the Assyrians, that is not a good time to read. Because I get in my have-to-get-this-done-now mode, I try to plop them on the couch and read while unsuccessfully policing their antsy behavior. (I am not saying that children should not be taught to sit still. I am only speaking helping them out a bit right before reading.) My simple solution is to let them get their wiggles out first by either playing outside for a little while or doing a game of Simon Says that involves lots of jumping.
• Let them see you read. Why would your children want to hear you read if they do not see Mommy reading? They like to mimic us and this is the same in the area of reading. Do not do all your reading online or after they are in bed. It can be as simple as them just seeing you read the Bible throughout the day.

What are your struggles with reading aloud? Do your kids love it? Do YOU love it?