Read-Aloud Revival ®

Latest Episodes:

RAR Special Edition Revisited: The Woman Who Gave us Miss Rumphius Jul 07, 2022

Show notes

Here at Read-Aloud Revival, we’re in the thick of getting a huge project together for you. We are launching our own publishing imprint, Waxwing Books.

Our first release is a picture book, written by me, and illustrated by none other than the gorgeously talented artist, Breezy Brookshire.

It’s called A Little More Beautiful: The Story of a Garden. August 10th is the big day. That’s the day you’ll be able to pre-order the book on Kickstarter and get some pre-order exclusives, like a brand new book bag and some other goodies.

While we get those pre-orders ready for you, we’re revisiting some Special Edition podcasts. These are my all-time favorites.

This one is fabulous to listen to as a family, so if you happen to be road tripping together, play it in the car. Enjoy!

Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/barbara-revisited/.

RAR#209: What Worked? What Didn’t? Looking Back on Homeschooling with my 20-Year-Old Daughter Jun 23, 2022

Show notes

Early on, pretty much everyone in my world told me we were making a huge mistake in homeschooling.

It was weird, it was unknown to them, and of course, we are afraid of things that are weird and unknown.

I actually didn’t know anyone in my personal life who was homeschooling.

I read some blogs and books (of course!), but I just had a very strong hunch that we should do this home education thing. So we did, and I’m so glad.

I loved it – not every minute of it (ha!) – but now that my oldest kids are adults, I’m so grateful for the time I got with them during all of those growing up years.

Today, I have a treat for you. My oldest daughter, Audrey – 20 years old at the time we’re recording this, just finished her sophomore year at Franciscan University of Steubenville as an English major, and she is joining me on the show.

Audrey was homeschooled her entire education.

And there were some rocky years! When Audrey was 12 – so you know, 6th grade-ish, I also had a 10-year-old, an 8-year-old, a 1 year-old, and twin newborns.

Yes. Three babies age 1 and under. It was… a lot.

We’re going to talk about that, plus:

what was most helpful for Audrey’s future
did she feel “prepared,” for going away to college and becoming an adult? (you’re going to love her answer, I think!)
what she really remembers about that time with babies (💗 😭) Mama’s with newborns – you just need to hear this. 💖
We’re also answering YOUR questions!

Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/209/.

RAR #207: How to Fall Back in Love with Reading this Summer May 26, 2022

Show notes

When I was a kid, I read voraciously. I could lose myself for hours in stacks and stacks of books. The reading wasn’t that high quality, mind you. I could usually be found reading The Babysitter’s Club or a Christian historical romance, though I also loved Roald Dahl and Lois Lowry (anyone else remember the Anastasia Krupnik series?) and nonfiction, too.

Then I became a mom, and reading felt decadent.

I read books to nurture my marriage, how-to books on parenting (some far better than others, ahem). But overall, reading just got… harder. It was something I did to improve myself. Not something I got swept away in.

Reading for pleasure felt like a splurge, and often it was a splurge I couldn’t figure out how to justify.

But here’s the thing — reading for fun is part of the job.

My life is richer when I’m reading for pleasure, and so is my kids’! In fact, I’ve found that their reading lives feed off the energy in mine.

So how am I going to nurture my own reading life this summer? And what might get in the way?

It’s a question worth asking for all of us, and joining me to ask it today on the podcast are RAR Community Director, Kortney Garrison and Managing Editor, Kara Anderson.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Why reading is a priority in our lives (hint: it’s not too decadent!)
Ways to nurture your reading life this summer
How to know what to read

Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/207/.

RAR#206: A Simple, Low-Pressure Approach to Teach Shakespeare May 19, 2022

Show notes

Do you want to teach your kids Shakespeare? Do you want to them to carry a love for The Bard in their hearts, and remember passages from the most famous plays ever written?

Maybe your answer is YES!

BUT …

Shakespeare seems overwhelming. And adding it feels stressful.

Sotoday, RARCommunityDirectorKortneyGarrisonandIarebreakingdown how to teach Shakespeare in a simple, low-pressure way that your kids will actually enjoy and look back on fondly.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

a million ways to teach Shakespeare (and maybe only one you want to avoid)
how to start with your goals when creating a Shakespeare teaching plan
what Kortney and I actually do

Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/206/.

RAR #205: Help! My Child Doesn’t Like Reading May 12, 2022

Show notes

When Mandy called in to ask about her daughter, who likes to be read to, but doesn’t really enjoy reading herself, I was all ears.

If you can relate, consider: when your child was 2, 3, 4 … did he/she like being read to?

Most small children LOVE being read to. They climb right into your lap and relish every minute.

It’s about the story, yes, but it’s also about the connection.

We really, really want our kids to love reading. So naturally, we worry when they don’t.

I wonder if that same connection is what our non-reading kids are actually seeking.

We’re often tempted to think our kids are lazy, or aren’t true readers, but laziness is rarely at play here (especially in the case of a dyslexic child).

So why don’t some of our kids love reading? And what on earth can we do about it?

That’s what I’m addressing today on the podcast from a mama who suspects her child may be dyslexic, and worries that she doesn’t enjoy reading.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Why kids may prefer being read to (hint: it’s not because they’re lazy!)
Whether it’s OK to do a lot of reading aloud to older kids (short answer: heck yes)
How different modalities make reading accessible at a different level

Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/205/.

RAR #204: How Do You Organize Books in Your Home Library? May 05, 2022

Show notes

We get many questions about how I organize books in my home library, and today we’re talking all about it.

I’m going to break down my system and hopefully help spark ideas for how to best organize books at your house.

Here’s the thing: Your home library should serve your family’s reading life. And that might mean organizing it in a different way than you think.

It also means the organization isn’t the goal. (Keep reading to see what I mean.)

I’ll give you a peek at a few of my own bookshelves throughout this post, which are definitely not gorgeous or Instagram-worthy. 😅

But they areuseable. And they’re used… a lot!

In this episode:

how to focus on your home library’s goal (which may be different than you think!)
how to cut down on time searching for books
ideas for organizing your family’s books without making it a full-time job

Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/204/.

RAR #203: What Do Your Kids Read for Fun in High School? Apr 28, 2022

Show notes

Do your kids read for fun in high school?

According to Dr. Daniel Willingham in Raising Kids Who Read, the average high schooler reads 6 minutes per day for pleasure. What that really means, he explains, is that a few kids read for pleasure quite a lot… and most don’t read for pleasure at all.

Karen recently called in to ask me what my own kids read for fun in high school… and I’ve got lots of suggestions in this post!

In this episode, you’ll hear:

deciding what goal you have for your high schooler’s reading life
whether high school reading should be “hard”
tons of recommendations from my teens and adult children (weird, I now have 2 of those!)

Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/203/.

RAR #202: For Kids Who Don’t Like Sad Stories Apr 21, 2022

Show notes

If you have a child who struggles with sad stories…a child who gets really uncomfortable when bad things happen and wants you to stop reading (or wants to stop reading themselves)… then this episode is for you.

And actually, it’s for them, too! In fact, it’s an episode you might like to listen to with your kids.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

What to do if your kids get upset while reading sad stories
Why you can predict what terrible thing might be coming (and when in the story it’ll happen)
What the author is doing and why
How to help your kids hang on to the story, and get all the way through to the hope

Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/202/.

RAR #201: The Surprising Value of Reading Fewer Books Mar 08, 2022

Show notes

Are you or your kids feeling overwhelmed by a long book list? Today I’m sharing how reading fewer books (yup!) can help our kids love books more.

Yep. We’re going to talk about reading fewer books.

What could it mean for your kids’ reading lives (and yours too!), to focus on reading fewer books and making the time spent reading them more enjoyable and richer?

Maybe even to have a reading life that is rich, relaxed, and leisurely?

If you or your kids are overwhelmed by a long book list, this sounds pretty great, right?

Tune in or read on to hear:

The difference between reading a book and completing a book
Why my own kids don’t track the number of books read
How to make time for (quite possibly) the best kind of reading

Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/201/.

RAR #200: Name What Matters in Your Homeschool This Spring Mar 02, 2022

Show notes

We’re just a little excited here at RAR this week.

First, it’s our 200th episode! 🥳

And second, it’s March, which here in the northern hemisphere meets *melting*. It also means a new season, and it’s a great time to name what matters, and set some intentions for how we want to finish out this homeschool year.

This week, the whole team will walk you through a simple process we’ve been using here at RAR in order to name what matters – and how to get there.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

How to name what matters most this spring
Your FREE cheat sheet to making a plan for your own homeschool that’s doable
And … what we’re reading this spring! 📚🌱

Find the rest of the show notes at https://readaloudrevival.com/200/.

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