Storytelling is a lost art in our modern day society where we can flip on the boob tube and see just about anything we want. It wasn’t all that long ago that fears surfaced worrying about the Internet and electronic books were going to be one of the last nails in the coffin for the books themselves. For families looking to emphasize the time spent together, but wanting to avoid the enticing trap of just sharing the same space to stare at the television – storytelling might be a great option for your family to explore.
When my daughter was younger, we read a book or three to her every single night before bed. That practice of reading to her has now evolved into reading with her. We sit together and take turns reading aloud. She is just now mastering the art of reading, yet even as she struggles with the words – she loves the feeling of accomplishment and what’s more – she loves it when we read to her.
It started on trip we were taking, one of us – I can’t remember if it was my husband or myself, started reading aloud from a book. Our daughter loved to hear us do this. After a while, we swapped and the other did the reading. As a fan of books on tape and CD, this was just the ticket for passing hours in the car or waiting somewhere.
An Evening Activity
Now instead of waiting for an hour that needs to be filled. We plan a time where we sit and just read, sometimes it’s only for a few minutes – each of us takes a turn reading a book or a story. We have been tackling chapter books more and more because her interest levels are to the point that she doesn’t necessarily need the pictures – instead she enjoys the voices we use and the way we read to each other as well as her.
We don’t just limit our time to reading aloud, we talk about what we have read. Just as with all her forms of entertainment, whether she is acting out a story or a show she has seen with her dolls, or we are discussing the movie we have just seen – we talk about the books we are reading. Our time-spent reading may only be thirty minutes, but the conversation created can last hours and it comes back up.
So perhaps the next time you are looking for something to do that evening, pull out a good book – an old favorite or possibly a new one – and sit and read out loud together. It’s a great way to enjoy a bit of storytelling and the warmth of gathering together to hear the tale – and trust me – your attention is on each other and the story and not the television.
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