I am thoroughly enjoying the summer book study of  “The Read-Aloud Handbook: Seventh Edition” by Jim Trelease.  It hits me as both a parent and a teacher.  I can relate to some of the questions that parents ask of Mr. Trelease about reading aloud to children … AND it reaffirms that all the reading aloud that I have done in the classroom and with Book & Boogie really does make a difference.

As a parent

I have 3 children of varying stages of their growth (elementary, high school and *GASP* heading off to college).  One common thing I did with each, we started reading to them all as infants.  It was a quiet and relaxing way to end the day and created a predictable routine for bedtime.  I love when Mr. Trelease describes how “the love of reading [is] nurtured by these parent-child experiences“, and that it helps to build a child’s verbal skills as the child grows.

The downside of my experiences with reading to my children, is in making the mistake that once they get to the upper elementary grades; the reading before bedtime routine became more of an individual activity for them (rather than a shared parent-child activity).

“But reading alone and reading aloud are not mutually exclusive.” —  [pg 63]

What a missed opportunity!  Mr. Trelease so obviously points out that …

“…kids usually listen on a higher level than they read.”

This is my “Duh” moment!  Of course they do!  How much of our conversations with children involve words and language that they verbally understand, but may not be able to read for themselves when written on paper?

“Listening comprehension feeds reading comprehension.” — [pg 67]

Mr. Trelease has some excellent examples of how this works in his book.  And it has challenged me as the busy parent to make reading aloud to my youngest a priority again, rather than just something we do on occasion.   [And we have had the perfect opportunity to do that this summer with the Summer Book Exchange we participated in.]

As an educator

Mr. Trelease talks about how children’s attention spans for reading time is based on their experience with books.  So as educators, the more opportunities we give children to experience story time (either as a large group, small group or one-on-one) … their attention span for that activity will grow.  So yes, it IS important to attempt to read to that group of restless preschoolers!

Follow the book study

Read the Chapter 2 review over at Pre-K Pages … and feel free to share your thoughts or personal stories about when to start and end reading aloud in the comments below.  Bloggers can also link up using the linky below!

I have also put together a post with a timeline for the book study, so check that out as you read along with us!

The summer book study of “The Read-Aloud Handbook: Seventh Edition” by Jim Trelease, is underway!  To learn about how the book study works, view our earlier post.

Use the guide below to find the Chapter Reviews and special author Q&A posts.

The Book Study Chapter Review Guide

• Chapter 1: Why Read Aloud? – Brick by Brick
• Chapter 2: When to Begin (and End) Read-Aloud – Pre-K Pages
• Chapter 3: The Stages of Read-Aloud – Prekinders
• Chapter 4: The Dos and Dont’s of Read-Aloud – Teach Preschool
• Chapter 5: Sustained Silent Reading – Brick by Brick
• Chapter 6: Print Climate in the Home, School, and Library – Pre-K Pages
• Chapter 7: Digital Learning: The Good News & Bad – Prekinders
• Chapter 8: Television & Audio: Helping or Hurting? – The SEEDS Network
• Chapter 9: Dad- What’s the Score? – Look at my Happy Rainbow
• Chapter 10: A Hyper Kids Road to Reading – Look at my Happy Rainbow

Q&A with Jim Trelease

• What about “reading” wordless books? – Pre-K Pages
• How often should we read aloud? – PreKinders
• Managing interruptions during the read-aloud experience – Teach Preschool
• Author/Illustrator discussions – Look at my Happy Rainbow
• Building Vocabulary – Pre-K Pages

To join in on the Book Study discussion, write a comment below this post, or link up your Book Study blog post using the linky below.

We are again looking forward to participating in a summer book study, hosted by Vanessa at Pre-K Pages! Our book for this summer’s study is “The Read-Aloud Handbook: Seventh Edition” by Jim Trelease, which will provide teachers, parents and caregivers with insights on the value of reading aloud, tips on ways to read aloud, and (YAY!) a list of great read aloud books!

The book study allows readers to follow along as several childhood bloggers post a summary and their thoughts on each chapter throughout the summer, and readers can join the discussion through comments.

WHEN DOES IT START?

The book study starts on July 8, 2013 and will continue each week with a chapter review by one of our fellow bloggers.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Beginning July 8, bloggers will be posting chapter reviews twice a week. You can join the discussion by following the participating blogs, and leaving comments about any thoughts or questions that you have. If you have a blog, you can also participate by linking up your posts on the linky.

SOUNDS GREAT! WHAT BLOGS SHOULD I FOLLOW?

Here is a list of the bloggers who will be hosting the chapter discussions:

• Deborah Stewart of Teach Preschool
• Karen Cox of Prekinders
• Laura Eldredge of The SEEDS Network
• Vanessa Levin of Pre-K Pages
• Matt of Look at My Happy Rainbow
• Scott Wiley of Brick by Brick

WHERE CAN I FIND THE BOOK?

“The Read-Aloud Handbook: Seventh Edition” will be published on June 25, 2013 and can be pre-ordered at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Learn more about this book and why it was chosen for the study at Pre-K Pages. We hope this will gets you even more excited for the summer!