Read aloud/ Audiobooks/ questions....

[Elfknitter.#]

SWB recommends read alouds during the grammar stage. If you have used them, do you ever stop or intend to use them only during this phase? What about reading aloud? Is there a value to it after the grammar stage?

 

Do you feel reading aloud is different from or the same as an audiobook?

 

Do you feel a student learns more or less from being read to aloud or listening to an audiobook?

 

Silently reading to one's self can produce different emotions/feelings/sensations/perceptions than being read to. Does that make reading aloud or audiobooks a lesser experience than silent reading?

 

Does any of this change if the student follows with the text to any read aloud or audiobook? (i. e., if you have the student sit with the text, reading along while the story is read aloud to them, does that some how make the experience better?)

 

Just curious. :)

[MyThreeSons]

I absolutely adored the read-aloud times with my boys when they were younger. We tapered off as they grew older, but I did continue to read aloud or listen to audio books along with my youngest as he did literature classes at our co-op. I have had him do some reading along with the audio, but for the most part, he just listens (while doing something else), and retains it very well.

 

I have a friend who is absolutely brilliant -- multiple masters and PhDs -- who LOVES listening to books. He actually listens at double speed. I would find that frustrating. I enjoy the experience of reading much too much to rush it.

[lailasmum]

I love both real books and audiobooks. I listen to audiobooks everyday and my kids do nearly everyday. One of the things I love about them is that you can listen to them while doing something else, driving/gardening/playing etc.  I can't see removing them from our life.

 

I think they are valuable but the reader can make or break an audiobook. A great reader adds so much but a bad one can make them horrendous.

 

I've found my dd remembers huge segments of audiobooks word for word so they've useful at times.

[trinchick]

We read aloud all the time, and I think my dd has developed an amazing vocabulary because of it. Almost daily I'm surprised to hear a $.50 word come out of her mouth - used and pronounced correctly. (Most of) the books I read to her are far advanced for her reading level. I try to choose classics with rich language. These are books that she could in no way read to herself at this point, but she can absolutely understand them when read aloud, and she can discuss them at a pretty in-depth level.

 

In The Read Aloud Handbook, Trelease has a really neat graphic where he compares the number of different words in a TV show, a conversation, a newspaper article, and a book. It clearly demonstrates that reading is by far the best way to introduce new vocabulary. Reading advanced books aloud helps to introduce new language in a format where she hears it in context and can then start to use it on her own. Here's a link to a brochure on Trelease's website that has a similar graphic: http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/read-aloud-brochure.pdf

 

I also love listening to audiobooks and agree wholeheartedly with the PP who said that the quality of the reader can greatly impact the experience. I often rave over Sissy Spacek's reading of To Kill a Mockingbird, which added so much to my love of the novel. I've also endured poor readings that have greatly diminished my enjoyment of a piece.

 

All that said, I don't think reading aloud or audiobooks should replace actual eyes-on-page reading - either for me or for my DD. They are complementary elements of our literary exploration.

 

 

[JennW in SoCal]

SWB recommends read alouds during the grammar stage. If you have used them, do you ever stop or intend to use them only during this phase? What about reading aloud? Is there a value to it after the grammar stage?

 

Do you feel reading aloud is different from or the same as an audiobook?

 

Do you feel a student learns more or less from being read to aloud or listening to an audiobook?

 

Silently reading to one's self can produce different emotions/feelings/sensations/perceptions than being read to. Does that make reading aloud or audiobooks a lesser experience than silent reading?

 

Does any of this change if the student follows with the text to any read aloud or audiobook? (i. e., if you have the student sit with the text, reading along while the story is read aloud to them, does that some how make the experience better?)

 

Just curious. :)

 

I read aloud through high school, but we more often listened together to audiobooks.  The biggest value in doing so was because it was simply nice to have that quiet, shared time.  In retrospect some of my fondest memories of homeschooling are tied up with the books we shared from read alouds or through audiobooks.   

 

The best thing about an audio book is that the reader's voice doesn't give out.  But I don't see that there is really any difference otherwise between the two.  

 

Some of this has been touched upon by the other posters in this thread.  The benefits of reading aloud or listing to audiobooks is that a young person can comprehend and enjoy material that is above their reading level.  It is a fabulous way to introduce older, classic literature which has such a different style that can be hard to read. Just as Shakespeare's language sounds natural when a good theater group performs his plays, a good reader can bring dense 19th century prose to life.   And I too was always impressed by the vocabulary my kids had -- pronounced correctly, used correctly.  

 

I don't know if emotions are different at all from when you silently read or listen.  It isn't true for me.