Read alouds are an integral part of our homeschool.
It seems that a read aloud is ALWAYS a good investment of time, and everyone wants to snuggle up for a good story.
Even now that my oldest is in 7th grade, she still BEGS for read aloud time.
With our most recent read aloud I started something new that worked wonderfully - a read aloud door.
The book that inspired the door was Lassie, Come Home. I knew the book was so full of goodness, so I ordered a study guide from Memoria Press to go along with it. The guide included discussion questions, vocabulary words, mapping exercises, history supplements, poetry, and art suggestions.
{I don't normally go so in depth with a read aloud. Sometimes we read just for the sake of reading. We had time, however, and I wanted to go in depth with THIS book.}
Each day I would read aloud, questions would be answered, and we would go over vocabulary.
During each of the read aloud times I would provide paper, colored pencils, and an idea or two to keep little hands busy while I was reading.
The Read Aloud Door
Our basement door is smack in the middle of a high traffic area in our house. Usually we keep artwork on this door.
As we were sitting at the kitchen table one day, I thought it might be fun to create a Read Aloud Door, with all of the vocabulary from the book on index cards, as well as any drawings or other information from the book.
My son LOVED this idea.
I wrote the vocabulary cards and he provided a drawing of a collie, a drawing of the Moorlands in England, his rendition of the Scottish lochs, and also a clock with the time 3:50 p.m. (the time Lassie would always go to the school and wait for Sam).
As we would sit at the kitchen table I could review words and encourage the kids to use them in conversation.
We could talk about the book with daddy as we ate our dinner.
The book became a part of our everyday lives, and we grew to love it even more.
I loved the door because I felt like it let my kids learn CONSTANTLY.
A beautiful read aloud has so many facets, doesn't it?
We also could have added a map of Lassie's journey, more vocabulary words, along with more artwork.
I didn't want it to be overwhelming, though, so we just added a couple of words each day, and the artwork that Grant wanted displayed.
Our current read aloud is Crispin: The Cross of Lead.
I'll be starting our door this week!
If you need more read aloud inspiration, I wrote a 10 Days of Reading Aloud series last fall. You'll find read aloud suggestions, why it's good to read aloud, and much more!
Do you read aloud in your homeschool? What's your favorite read aloud of all time?