How the Read-Aloud Revival Podcast has Transformed our Homeschool and Our Family

When I first heard that Sarah MacKenzie (from amongstlovelythings.com) had a podcast called The Read-Aloud Revival: Building Your Family's Culture Around Books, I knew I had to listen because 1) I love literature and 2) I felt like I was letting read-alouds slide to a place of unimportance in our homeschool, particularly for Britton, who at 10, was a very capable, independent reader. Math, spelling, and memory-work seemed to have much more tangible benefits than the mere "guilty pleasure" of an enjoyed story. Because of the varied ages of my five children (then 2-10), I was attempting to do two separate read-alouds, squeezing them both in during nap time because of the disaster that Rosie was (happily she has matured) during read-aloud time. Combine that with my terrible character voices, which often hindered (not helped) the story, and my read-aloud efforts often felt frustrated and futile. Thus the Read-Aloud Revival found me.

A beautiful zinnia because all blog posts need pictures
 and I don't have any that fit this topic

 The Read-Aloud podcast has been running for two years and currently has 49 shows on such topics as how to pick books, how to fully utilize the library, how to perform better character voices (yes, please!), living a story-formed life, and the topic that captivated me most fully: why reading aloud is so important, particularly for older children.  

The most impactful episode was the very first foundational one where Sarah interviewed Andrew Pudewa from the Institute for Excellence in Writing, the creator of the outstanding writing curriculum Classical Conversations and many other homeschooling families use. He spoke of the weakness of our current method of reading aloud to children just until we launch them into independent reading, and then leaving them to their own decoding devices. (Can't you visualize a bulletin board with a rocket and the catchy phrase "Launch into Reading"? I may even have done this in my brief time as a classroom teacher.) He makes the point that reading a book and listening to a book are completely different experiences. When reading, kids can skim or even skip unknown words or challenging passages. You can "read" Lord of the Rings by reading one out of three words, and still follow the plot pretty easily. But what truly cements the "reliably correct and sophisticated language patterns" he contends are necessary for future success in oral and written communication is by hearing it through the ear, most often through quality literature read aloud, as well as through memorizing quality passages. He elaborates on these thoughts in his own excellent talk "Nurturing Competent Communicators".   

A begonia - please keep reading

All of this new information rocked my world and also challenged me to re-instate the Read-Aloud. I had a fresh, invigorated vision of why my children needed to hear these great stories through their ears and into their brains, and not merely read them independently, no matter how proficient they were. So I made the decision that I was going to make reading aloud a top priority for our family, but I was going to streamline my efforts. Whenever our family was in the car, we were going to listen to a talented actor read a piece of literature. (We're not even fancy with downloads or anything like that - we get all of our audibooks on "hard copy" CD from the library.) I would continue to read to them for a few minutes in the afternoon and before bedtime because that's just what we've always done, and despite my deficiencies, it is a special time. 

I submit to you the literary ground we covered in one year with some "couch" reading, but mostly through audiobooks during weekly errands and a couple of longer car trips:

2015-2016 school year:
Adventure According to Humphrey, by Betty G. Birney
The BFG, by Roald Dahl
Black Star of Kingston, by SD Smith
Caleb's Story, by Patricia MacLachlan
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl
A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim's Progress, by Oliver Hunkin
The First Four Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'dell
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
Little Pear and His Friends, by Eleanor Frances Lattimore
A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Little Town on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

A Reading Picture
(not aloud, but at least on topic)

Mary Poppins, by P.L. Travers
Matilda, by Roald Dahl
Old Yeller, by Fred Gipson
The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall
Peter and the Starcatchers, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
The Prairie Thief, by Melissa Wiley
Sarah Plain and Tall, by Patricia MacLachlan
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Shiloh, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Skylark, by Patricia McLachlan
Stuart Little, by E.B. White
Surprises According to Humphrey, by Betty G. Birney
These Happy Golden Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Trumpet of the Swan, by E.B. White
Waiting for Magic, by Patricia MacLachlan
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine D'Engle

30 books! And that was mostly through redeeming wasteful weekly car-time. Did my 2 and 3 year-old Littles understand everything they heard? Certainly not. Did 5 year-old Charlie fully appreciate A Christmas Carol? No, but he was exposed to the sophisticated language patterns and vocabulary of Dickens and can actually tell you about some of the plot and characters. Car rides have been mostly peaceful as we've shared these stories together. Even the Littles are remarkably quiet, almost reverent, as we all listen. 

The thing I treasure the most is having all these shared experiences. My kids will quote characters or reference stories and we all get it because we all heard that part too. When we took in a beautiful, sweet, golden-colored chicken, of course we had to name her "Miss Honey" because we had just read Matilda. If anything is ever heavy or weighing us down, we call it our "burden" because we all understand what Pilgrim carried on his back. Last weekend on a bike-ride we spotted two white swans with black beaks gliding on the pond and wondered if they were Trumpeter Swans like the ones we grew to care for in E.B. White's book. The inspiration I have received through the Read-Aloud Revival Podcast has truly helped me build our family culture around books, as is Sarah MacKenzie's goal. I thank God that I found her because it has helped transform both our homeschool and our family. 

Moving Forward, Loading Cows, and a Not Unpleasant Surprise

Summer is rolling by. The pastures are parched, the garden is growing, and the kids are enjoying mostly unscheduled days.

Last blog entry I shared how three animals in the photo at right should be pregnant, but are not. Marianne, the little black goat, was our last hope and her possible due-dates have come and gone, even though we saw her mating with Westley the buck during two heat cycles. I belong to a "goat health care" Facebook group and asked the question: Why would a healthy doeling with regular heat cycles NOT get pregnant??? There are many possibilities, but the most common reasons suggested were a vitamin deficiency (most likely vitamin A) or cysts that prevent pregnancy. We really want goat babies, but after Elinor's stillbirth and the time and money it would require to have a vet assess Marianne and then try and get them both to a buck (pretty sure we don't want a buck here again) on the one day they are in heat (which likely will not be on the same day)... I'm just burned out on the process right now. Perhaps we'll re-assess next spring. 

When we bought Annabelle the black Irish Dexter cow in January we were given the name of a lady who has an Irish Dexter bull that we might be able to use in future. We contacted her and though she didn't want her bull to come to us (she has a closed herd, meaning she does not vaccinate or worm because she does not allow her cows to come in contact with other pastures) she was willing for our two girls to come pasture at her farm for a couple of months. Though we offered to pay her or have a large quantity of hay delivered to her as a useful thanks, she declined. She is just being extremely generous to us, people she's never met. I'm finding that country folks are mostly really kind, giving people.

So the date was set for us to load our two cows into the livestock trailer that we bought from the people who sold us Annabelle and drive them an hour into the hills. I think this trailer is pretty sweet. Originally it had a bumper sticker that said "Back off city boy, country girl on board!" But mercifully I peeled it off before Caleb had to tow it for the first time.  

Bless you, Nutmeg

I asked my experienced neighbor for advice on loading the cows and she said, "Allow yourself plenty of time and just feed them into the trailer. Whatever you do, do not get frustrated. If they know that you want them to get in, that is the last place they will go." Knowing that these girls will follow me anywhere if I'm holding a bucket of grain, I really was not too worried. At this point I will abridge the story and say that after two hours of continuous effort we had loaded zero cows. The grain did not work. Apples did not work. Hay did not work. I was a sweaty mess (that trailer does not breathe!), near tears, seeking guidance from God, and was about to give up, when Nutmeg decided to just hop right in. Praise the Lord! 

Daylight was waning, so we tried Annabelle one last time, but she declined. She is 11 and perhaps wise even beyond her years. She has had several owners. She has calved every year of her life. She understands that no good comes from riding in trailers. 

Annabelle does what she wants. And as I now realize, she also doesn't do what she doesn't want. I have to respect a cow who knows her mind. Nutmeg is still hanging with Buddy the Bull and is hopefully pregnant even as I write this. Annabelle is still un-pregnant in our pasture. 

Annabelle's not hating that grain bucket now

One species of animal we have not struggled to breed are chickens. Last week Caleb came in from the barn and said, "Here's one for you. Apparently we've been missing a chicken for 21 days because there is a black chick running around the barn." Yes, we've gone from naming our chickens to not even counting them at night because I can't remember how many we have and half of them are black (black being the dominant trait in the "barnyard mix" chicks we keep hatching) and I don't know who's who. So it was quite feasible that we had missed a chicken for three weeks without realizing it. After hearing this, I just assumed a hen had sat on one of her own eggs and hatched one chick. The next morning I went out to find not one, but ten adorable fluffy chicks scurrying around the barn. 

We really didn't want more chickens right now, but it's hard to be too upset with this much adorableness pecking and scratching around the barnyard. 

And there's something about summer that just makes everything all right.