Reading aloud vs. book on tape

[beth83]

I am trying to add reading chapter books into our daily schedule. We currently don't use the time we spend in the car and I was thinking that would be a perfect time to listen to books on tape.

 

Would this be the same benefit to the children as me reading the book? I would still be reading various picture books during the day.

[UrbanSue]

If your goal is to expose them to more quality literature and use your time in the car well, then, yes, listening to audiobooks is a great use of your time. You'd still all be listening to it. It would still be a shared experience. You'd have a captive audience so reluctant listeners might enjoy something despite themselves. I guess it's less "snuggly" but, honestly, my read aloud times often turn into a logistical circus anyway.

[KarenNC]

It certainly worked well for us. We spend too much time in the car to not take advantage of the opportunity. We've been listening to audiobooks in the car since my daughter was about 4. Initially, it was because I didn't like listening to NPR (my preferred radio station) with her in the car because it was too focused on war at the time and my voice didn't hold out for all the read-alouds she wanted/I wanted for her. We did this rather than get a dvd player for the car for long trips. Audiobooks, a pad and colored pencils (since crayons melt), a cookie sheet with magnets, and books she could read independently got us through a 2.5 week driving trip when she was 5 1/2. The criteria I have is that it has to be something I'm willing to listen to as well :D . I nixed The Boxcar Children pretty quickly, for instance, because the recording just grated on my nerves. We usually check the audiobooks out of the library, but there are various other options available to rent or buy. In addition to chapter books, we enjoyed a number of the Jim Weiss recordings. The car worked well for music appreciation as well, using things like Beethoven's Wig and the Classical Kids cds.

 

Now that she's older (and has been reading very well for years), we still listen to audiobooks periodically in the car. They may be historical fiction related to a time we are studying, something from her literature list, a book for the library book club, or just something I think we will enjoy. I find it useful to be able to stop the recording and check on whether she knows a certain vocabulary word, give some background information on something in the book, or do some basic literary analysis work ("What do you think will happen next?" "How do you think this will end?" "Do you remember when x did y, foreshadowing this?" "How would you have responded to that?" "What did you think about that passage?" etc). It can make for some good discussion and will sometimes spark an interest in a particular author so that she will continue to read other books by that author on her own. Given that my daughter will almost always pick manga or a graphic novel over a longer book, this is helpful. I certainly don't do this with every audiobook, but I do with some.

[OrdinaryTime]

I think both are great. We always have a mom read-aloud and an audiobook going at the same time. We listen to the audiobooks in the car and sometimes at lunchtime. I usually try to choose more challenging/better quality literature for my read-alouds so we can discuss it together. I try to keep lighter, easier storylines for audiobooks. Of course, if I find a narrarator that is really good, we'll listen to whatever we can get our hands on by them. Also, sometimes I read a book aloud to the kids and then we listen to it on audiobook a few months later. My kids like repeating stories over and over, but I don't really like re-reading longer books. We are doing this with The Hobbit right now. We read it last summer, but are now listening to the old BBC production of it.

[alisoncooks]

Audiobooks have saved us on some long car rides! My girls will sit quietly for hours with an audiobook -- without it, they'll argue and fuss (even with games/books/movies to entertain them). We've listened to loads of great stuff in the car! Our favorites for the younger crowd:

My Father's Dragon trilogy

Frog & Toad books (and other Arnold Lobel compilations)

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

The Boxcar Children

A Bear Called Paddington

Winnie the Pooh

Little House in the Big Woods

 

 

And some of the books we listen to, we also read because I don't want to miss out on that with them. :)

[dollie*]

We just discovered audio books. My 10-year-old needs much more reading for vocabulary exposure, and my 8-year-old just needs chill time. They went over really well, to my surprise! We started with The Runaway Dolls and Shiloh.

[momma aimee]

I am trying to add reading chapter books into our daily schedule. We currently don't use the time we spend in the car and I was thinking that would be a perfect time to listen to books on tape.

 

Would this be the same benefit to the children as me reading the book? I would still be reading various picture books during the day.

 

we do it and we love it -- we have listened to greek and roman mythology -- bonus i don't have to struggle over the names!!! makes momma happy.

 

The Reluctant Dragon is anther great one.

[Χά�ων]

We do both. We LOVE audio books! DS can't get enough and I am enjoing myself as well.

 

Not all narrators are created equal. You will find some you like more than other and some that are like nails on chalkboard. Enjoy!

[momto2Cs]

We also do both. We're in the car a fair amount, so we do listen to a good number of audio books. Some of our favorites were The Phantom Tollbooth (read by David Hyde Pierce, and absolutely fantastic!); Roald Dahl's stories read by Roald Dahl; the Harry Potter books read by Jim Dale (actually ANYthing by Jim Dale is good!); the entire Chronicles of Narnia (various British actors); and now we're going through the Percy Jackson series.

 

I think audiobooks make a great addition to homeschooling. They allow us to get through more books than we would with just me reading, which I still do plenty of, and I enjoy listening to a good story too!

[drum1019]

Absolutely! Books on tape are just as beneficial as reading aloud. We do it all in our home with a 9 year old and 4 year old. We started books on tape when my oldest was three because we were spending soooo much time in the car. She was so captivated by the story and the narrator ( the narrator makes a huge difference!) that it was all she asked for when we would get in the car. Now at 9 she is an avid reader and still listens daily to books on tape. She will re hear the book on tape if it is a favorite of hers. Her passion for books, reading silently, books on tape and my read alouds has really been a wonderful influence to my younger child. My now 3 y/o asks for her own books on tape and loves Frog and Toad, Dr Seuss, Henry and Mudge, Wind in the Willows. We love books on tape!!

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I do both.The audio books get listened to when we are car riding or doing a puzzles together. I always pick audio books that are a little bit advanced for my dd or books I want her to have read but know she would not normally read on her own. At first I though listening to them in the car would be a problem because it only takes a few minutes to get anywhere here and though listening to a story for just 5-15 min intervals not every day might break the story up too much, but it hasn't been a problem usually. If it is story dd wants to listen to more often, we bring the disc inside and work on a jigsaw puzzle or knit while listening to it. We still have a book being read aloud by me but that a book I choose for school not a pleasure book.