Letting Go of Homeschool Perfection -- Fitting in Reading Aloud

I’ve had the image in my head for years. There is Mom sitting on the couch with children snuggled peacefully all around her. She is reading from a favorite childhood book, maybe with a cup of tea nearby and a fire in the fireplace. Cherubic looking tykes are listening intently, hanging on her every word. And through the years this image has only been fueled by the scores of homeschool moms online who emphasize that cuddling and reading on the couch brings such joy to their homeschool.

Fast forward to now. I sit on the couch with a book and

Thomas immediately tries to get between me and the book and lift my shirt because if I am sitting it has to be an invitation to nurse
or everyone fights over who gets to sit on my lap and are constantly jockeying for position (one mom, two sides)
or someone decides they are going to get down and play while they listen — with the loudest toy in the room
or Thomas tries to rip the book from my hand and replace it with his board book about colors, or trucks, or Olivia the pig despite the fact that I read that one just a minute ago to appease him

In the meantime my drink was overturned when someone launched themselves from the table and my nerves are getting frayed.

I know how important it is to read aloud to the kids. In fact, I think it is probably the most important educational thing we do in our homeschool. If nothing else gets done, think of all of the things they can learn from being read a wide variety of language-rich books. At our house reading aloud was only happening for about 20 minutes at night (when we could divide and conquer) and that was not nearly enough.

What I needed was a plan, right? Well kind of. What I needed most was to let go of that perfect homeschooling image and do what worked for us in this season instead.

I am happy to say that over the past couple of weeks read-alouds have been going great at our house and getting done consistently. I gave up the couch and moved them to the dinning room table. There everyone can work on a coloring page or a lapbook component, playdoh, toddler trays or eat a snack. Thomas is free to get up and down and wander in and out of the room for short periods of time — and will since the lure of Mom is not so tantalizing at the table as on the couch. Some days go better than others, but amazingly they will sit and listen for long periods of time. We read two rather lengthy versions of Cinderella in one sitting this week. In fact, we are reading everything from poetry, to selections from Ambleside Year 1, to picture books with great success.

A new setting and busy hands have helped with read-aloud time.

I remember when Olivia was a baby, for some reason I had visions of fixing us scrambled eggs for breakfast and us enjoying them together at our little table. Except once she was old enough to eat them, Olivia wouldn’t touch a scrambled egg. It was instant dislike. Sadly, I had to let that (somewhat bizarre) dream go. Today Olivia loves her eggs “roasted” and often requests them. She, John and I share eggs in the morning regularly (T is still a no-go).

The moral here? One day I may yet get my snuggly reading time in front of the fireplace. For the moment, though, I have to choose the reality that works over the dream that doesn’t.

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Pam

Pam is the author of The Your Morning Basket Guide and Plan Your Year: Homeschool Planning for Purpose and Peace. She also is the host of three popular podcasts -- The Homeschool Snapshots Podcast, Your Morning Basket, and The Homeschool Solutions Show. She lives in the Deep South with her husband and three kids, where she is the go-to lady for great curriculum recommendations or a just a pep talk on a rough day.