Read-Aloud Revival ®

Latest Episodes:

RAR #230: Helping Your Differently Wired Kids Fall in Love with Reading Aug 17, 2023

Show notes

Are you struggling with how to tackle reading in your homeschool?

Maybe you have a child who’s a later reader or is having a tough time connecting with reading. Or maybe you have a kid who’s an advanced reader and they’re outpacing books that fit their emotional and social development.

Either way, it can be hard to know what to do to help your child build a strong relationship with reading that they’ll carry with them throughout their lives.

Today, I’m sharing a session from the Great Homeschool Conventions that I led with my friend and colleague Colleen Kessler of Raising Lifelong Learners.

In this conversation, we’ll talk about the challenges that come up with readers at both ends of the bell curve and how to help your differently wired kids fall in love with reading.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Three practical strategies for helping struggling readers: read-alouds, phonics, and time
Signs your child might be dyslexic and recommended resources for working with a dyslexic brain
How to help your advanced reader develop discernment in their book choices

Find the rest of the show notes at: https://readaloudrevival.com/differently-wired-kids/

RAR #229: How a 25¢ Spiral Notebook Can Change Your Homeschool Aug 03, 2023

Show notes

During my hardest year of homeschooling, I had a 12, 10, 8, and 1 year old, and twin newborns. Life was… a little chaotic.

One week, a friend of mine who had homeschooled all three of her kids asked, “So how's homeschooling going?”

And naturally, I burst into tears. I’m not sure she saw that coming. But then, maybe she did.

Anyway, she asked me how I was keeping the kids on track for their schoolwork and how much they could do when I wasn’t able to lead them, and when I looked at her with a blank stare, she said, “Okay, I’m going to come over tomorrow and I’ll bring some spiral notebooks.”

So, I cleared a path to the door and she came and she showed me how a 25 cent notebook could completely change our homeschool for the better.

Today, we're going to talk about those spiral notebooks-- the one simple tool that has had the biggest impact on my homeschooling life.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

How the spiral notebook system combats overwhelm when you’re being pulled in too many directions
How I used the spiral notebooks in our homeschool
The modified system that we use in our homeschool now

Find the rest of the show notes at: https://readaloudrevival.com/spiral-notebooks-for-homeschool

RAR #228: Reading for Fun is More Important Than You Think Jul 20, 2023

Show notes

Imagine that your child is grown up, and his or her reading life looks a lot like yours does right now.

How do you feel about that?

Is your reading life something you want your kids to emulate when they’re adults?

What if we built for ourselves the kind of reading life that we’d be delighted for our own kids to imitate?

Novelist Katherine Paterson once wrote that “a fondness for books is catching.”

I think she’s right. It’s much easier to be drawn into a reading life when the people around you also have a rich reading life.

And if you’re someone who wants to raise kids who love to read - that’s probably why you’re here, right? Modeling our own rich reading life is an incredibly important strategy in making that a reality.

Which means that reading – not just to your kids, not just for your kids, not just about how to be a better mother to your kids – but reading for the sheer joy of reading, is one of your most important jobs as a mother.

And regardless of what your reading life looks like today, it’s OK. Keep listening.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Why modeling your own enjoyment of reading is such an important piece of raising kids who love to read
How reading reduces stress, makes us happier, improves focus and more!
How to overcome the hurdles and read more (in fact we have a printable for that!)

Find the rest of the show notes at: https://readaloudrevival.com/mom-reading-life/

Best of RAR: Penderwicks Fans Rejoice! Jul 06, 2023

Show notes

Today, in this Best Of Read Aloud Revival episode, we’re revisiting a conversation about a series I absolutely adore: The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall.

The Penderwicks follows the escapades of four spirited sisters, Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty. The books are a modern nod to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, and they’ve won tons of awards including the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, several ALA Notable Children’s Book Awards, and the Massachusetts Children’s Book Award.

Since recording this interview for RAR episode 100, Jeanne unknowingly planted the seed for my own book, A Little More Beautiful, the Story of a Garden when I visited her and her Northampton, Massachusetts, home. So now, of course, we like to call A Little More Beautiful “our book.”

The first book in the Penderwicks series, The Penderwicks, A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy is our RAR Premium Family Book Club pick for this summer.

That means we’ve got a full Family Book Club Guide with all the trimmings available now for members AND if you and your kids sign up for RAR Premium, they will have a chance to meet Jeanne Birdsall live on Zoom on August 25th.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

How Jeanne got her start writing in her 40s and why it’s never too late to follow a dream
About Jeanne’s character-driven writing process and why she always envisioned the Penderwicks as a series
Where Jeanne gets her inspiration

Find the rest of the show notes at: https://readaloudrevival.com/penderwicks-book-club/

Hey Sarah! When (and how) do I…teach writing, take my kids to the library, require a teen to read? Jun 22, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, I’m answering more of your questions.

You’ve sent in some fabulous messages and I’m going to tackle them rapid-fire for you and answer as many as possible today.

Today I’m sharing about when to use Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) or teach composition, when and how to start using the library, and what to do when a teenager doesn’t enjoy reading.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Why you don’t need to rush your kids into composition, and what I do instead
Strategies for handling books you’d rather your kids didn’t check out of the library
How to encourage older, dyslexic kids in reading

Find the rest of the show notes at: https://readaloudrevival.com/teaching-writing/

Anxious About Rest: How to Let Go of Summer Break Pressure Jun 08, 2023

Show notes

Full show notes can be found here: You Don't Need to Make the Most of Your Summer
Get RAR Premium HERE>>

RAR #226: Hey Sarah! Late-Night Readers, Not Assigning Books and is it OK to Read SO MANY Books? May 25, 2023

Show notes

In today’s episode, I’m answering your questions!

Listeners have sent in some fabulous questions for me, and I’m going to attempt to tackle them rapid-fire, including about where I get my favorite art prints, what to do with late-night readers, what to do if you don’t feel like you read aloud well, and more.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

My favorite places to find bookish art
What I do if my kids stay up too late reading
How I handle assigned reading in my homeschool

Find the rest of the show notes at: https://readaloudrevival.com/late-night-readers/

Best of RAR: 5 MORE Homeschool Mistakes I’ve Made (they just keep comin’) May 11, 2023

Show notes

Two weeks ago I shared the first 5 of 10 mistakes I’ve made in my homeschool -- believe me, I’ve made many, many more than that!

But I’m highlighting 10 that stick out most prominently to me.

So in the last “Best of Read-Aloud Revival” episode, I shared the first 5 and today I’m sharing the next 5.

Hopefully, hearing these will keep you from making the mistakes I have. Homeschooling is a joy and a gift and it’s hard and wonderful and messy and effective -- it’s all of those things at once. I can promise you won’t get it perfect, and I can also promise that you don’t NEED to get it perfect.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Two big mistakes new homeschool parents often make
Why you have to avoid the comparison trap in your homeschool
Why more isn’t better when it comes to your homeschool
One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned in my years of homeschooling

Find the rest of the show notes at: https://readaloudrevival.com/5-more-homeschool-mistakes/

Best of RAR: 5 Homeschooling Mistakes I've Made (so you can avoid them) Apr 27, 2023

Show notes

I’ve been homeschooling for a long time, and just like every other homeschooling mom I know, I’ve made a ton of mistakes.

When I was new to homeschooling, I craved the insight of people who had been doing it for a while:

What do you wish you did more of?

What do you wish you worried less about?

What would you do differently if you were starting over again?

These are the kinds of things I wanted to know.

At the time I’m airing this particular show, I have two college students who were homeschooled the whole way through. Our third child is about to graduate this spring and will also head to University. And then we’ve got three more -- ages 11, 9, and 9. And yeah… we’re doing things a little differently this time around.

A couple of years ago I shared on this podcast some of my mistakes in homeschooling-- and they all remain true. So, it seemed like a good idea to talk about those mistakes again.

Over this episode and the next one, I’ll be sharing 10 mistakes I’ve made in my homeschool -- five in this episode, and five in the next.

If you heard these a few years ago when I first aired them, you might have a new take -- after all, you’re new in a new season of life than you were then. And if you haven't heard, I hope you enjoy.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

What really makes a difference in the quality of your homeschool (hint: it’s not agonizing over which curriculum to use)
What I wish I’d known then that keeps overwhelm at bay now
Why it’s okay for your homeschool to be ordinary

Find the rest of the show notes at: https://readaloudrevival.com/5-homeschooling-mistakes/

RAR #225: It's Just Data (What your data is REALLY telling you about your homeschool) Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

Why do we make things mean more than they actually mean?

We all do it.

We realize a kid doesn’t know how to tie their shoes at age 12, and we tell ourselves we’re forgetting to teach SO MANY IMPORTANT THINGS.

We feed our kids frozen pizza for dinner twice in a week and think it means we don’t care about their health.

We sleep late and tell ourselves we’re lazy.

We have a late reader and think it means we’re not good at this “teaching reading” thing.

We make things mean what they don’t mean ALL THE TIME.

And today? Today we’re gonna talk about it.

I’m sharing something we’ve been talking about in Circle with Sarah, which is our homeschool coaching program in RAR Premium. Recently I did a couple of episodes on why we need to keep data in its place in our homeschool and not make things mean what they don’t mean.

I wanted you to hear it, so I’m sharing those two episodes in one RAR Podcast for you here.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Why you have to learn to separate the data from your self-worth and value
How to make use of what the data is actually telling you
Journal prompts to help you suss out what the data is telling you and what you’re making it mean

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

Find the rest of the show notes at: https://readaloudrevival.com/its-just-data/