When I was younger I did a lot of babysitting for family babies and kids. This always involved reading them books, because there is no better negotiation tool for babies and kids to go to bed than spending some time reading books. When I had my own small kids, I let them choose the number of picture books I would read, even if that number was 10 or more. Sometimes they would be asleep before all the books were finished, or sometimes I would be. :)
The biggest regret I have from this time is that at a certain stage in my kids' lives, (it was grade 3 and 4 respectively when they went from Japanese school to International School) I stopped reading them picture books as a way of making them read more "age appropriate" chapter books. When I think of that time now I cringe, because as ESL students they needed me to read more picture books to them, not less. I was reading chapter books with them, we were talking about the books, and I was helping them with homework. However I never got back that precious bedtime ritual that I had, and my kids missed out on a whole level of learning.
Can I let you in on a secret? I sometimes forcibly read picture books to my teenaged children now even against their will, because I hope that one day they will look on me as some sort of weird picture-book lunatic that can't be helped. I don't care that they see me this way, as long as they let me share picture books with them again. I can't do it all the time, but I can do it sometimes. That's enough for now.
My idea for this page is that I would like my bookish friends to read picture books aloud, and contribute videos of their read-alouds. These videos will inspire me to read their books, and hopefully you too. These videos will inspire more videos. And the new videos will inspire readers to go to the library and get these books. Did you know that my local library has a GREEN SCREEN and all the equipment for making videos? How cool do you think it would be for me to jump inside of a book and read it from the inside? How awesome would it be if an author or an illustrator were to read aloud their own book? Do you know how awesome it would be for my kids to see me reading aloud their favorite books from childhood (OK - they might not think that's awesome now, but they have to admit....).
We'll see what this page becomes, but for now, let's just call it a celebration for reading aloud. If you are reading this and you would like to contribute a video, please get in touch.
The biggest regret I have from this time is that at a certain stage in my kids' lives, (it was grade 3 and 4 respectively when they went from Japanese school to International School) I stopped reading them picture books as a way of making them read more "age appropriate" chapter books. When I think of that time now I cringe, because as ESL students they needed me to read more picture books to them, not less. I was reading chapter books with them, we were talking about the books, and I was helping them with homework. However I never got back that precious bedtime ritual that I had, and my kids missed out on a whole level of learning.
Can I let you in on a secret? I sometimes forcibly read picture books to my teenaged children now even against their will, because I hope that one day they will look on me as some sort of weird picture-book lunatic that can't be helped. I don't care that they see me this way, as long as they let me share picture books with them again. I can't do it all the time, but I can do it sometimes. That's enough for now.
My idea for this page is that I would like my bookish friends to read picture books aloud, and contribute videos of their read-alouds. These videos will inspire me to read their books, and hopefully you too. These videos will inspire more videos. And the new videos will inspire readers to go to the library and get these books. Did you know that my local library has a GREEN SCREEN and all the equipment for making videos? How cool do you think it would be for me to jump inside of a book and read it from the inside? How awesome would it be if an author or an illustrator were to read aloud their own book? Do you know how awesome it would be for my kids to see me reading aloud their favorite books from childhood (OK - they might not think that's awesome now, but they have to admit....).
We'll see what this page becomes, but for now, let's just call it a celebration for reading aloud. If you are reading this and you would like to contribute a video, please get in touch.
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