The Joy and Beauty of Reading Aloud
If you have ever sat with a child warmly nestled on your lap, laughing and pointing to the book you hold together, you know what a pleasure reading is. We believe that reading aloud has its place not just in the bedtime armchair but also in the classroom. Children of all ages benefit from hearing quality literature read aloud, and Classical Christian teachers capitalize on this rich educational tool.
When teachers read aloud to their students, they embark on a journey together.
Even when reading a simple picture book, the two parties are sharing an experience. The teacher is still in authority, but now she also shares the students’ position as a recipient. Like watching a movie, all of the hearers experience the humor, tension, and love in the story. But a book is far better than a movie because the teacher can interact with students while telling the story. She can see in her students what is engaging them or what is confusing them. She can pause for explanation or change her tone of voice to better capture her audience. The students get a tailor-made experience.
Reading aloud quality books is one of the best ways to introduce children to new vocabulary and beautiful language.
A good author writes thoughtfully, and their writing is therefore more interesting and playful than everyday speech. This develops a student’s taste for quality and gives them a great advantage when they eventually learn to compose their own pieces of writing. Readers grow to recognize and love masterful prose.
Students can learn new words very naturally in the context of books. If you read the word “eiderdown” on a vocabulary flashcard, you have nothing to work with to decipher it’s meaning. But, when you read “…and another was wrapped in an eiderdown” under a picture of a baby in a plush quilt, then you can determine that an eiderdown is some sort of blanket. In which of these situations did you actually learn a new word?
Great books elevate a child’s moral understanding.
This is where a good teacher is invaluable. A good teacher will choose books where virtue and vice are appropriately understood. She can then guide her students to love what is good and hate what is not, always aligning their understanding with Truth. Children can learn from characters both good and bad; they see examples to follow and to avoid. Stories are one of the most potent tools for shaping a child’s loyalty. Blessing children with an abundance of good, true, and beautiful literature is a tenet of Classical Christian education. Quality read-alouds further this goal.
Reading aloud helps students learn to delight in books.
We are always passing on attitudes to our children—it starts when they are babies. We smile and point at a dog to communicate it’s something to enjoy. We frown and say “yuck” at a rotten banana in the trash so the baby doesn’t try to eat it. An engaging, joyful teacher models how to enjoy a book. She can pass on delight in her attitude and performance. Her students will not only be able to enjoy the book being read aloud but also grow a positive affect toward reading that will serve them a whole lifetime.
The publisher of our curriculum, Memoria Press, includes a series of read-aloud picture books in kindergarten, first, and second grades. They have been carefully selected for their literary and moral quality. They are used for all of the benefits above, as well as the introduction they provide for science, history, geography, and art. The practice of reading aloud continues in the literature studies of the middle and upper grades.
Listen to a conversation about their choices here, and see the full list of books used in the primary grades here.
This is the education we want for our own children, and we invite you to join us!
Contact us to schedule a parent meeting or apply today.
Liberty Classical School is a full-time, private Christian Classical school in Lincoln, NE. We exist to educate children that they may know and love the truth. We partner with parents to establish men and women who glorify God as loyal servants. We equip our students to be formidable adversaries of falsity and all other enemies of God. We believe that the primary end for education is not merely survival, but glory—glory in the truth and Glory to God—the Father, the Spirit and the Son—on Earth as it is in Heaven. Amen.