Raise your hand if your kids ask to watch movies all day every day during holidays? Raise your hand if it has your sanity hanging by a thread within a few minutes?
Enter read alongs! We already had a couple of these from CD’s included in picture books, but I decided to explore the audiobook section of our library as well to see whether my kids might enjoy them.
Parent win! Besides the blessed decrease in movie-begging, I have observed some unlooked-for benefits:
- Opportunities to cooperate as they share the books while they listen
- Opportunities for my older child to encourage print awareness with her brother
- Discussions on expressions and vocabulary with my daughter as she repeatedly listens to Kate DiCamillo’s humorous “Bink & Gollie Two For One” (ie, “there are no winners here,” or “without question”)
- Increase in our reading time as we can listen to stories while we eat meals
- Impromptu dance parties (courtesy of the baby thoroughly enjoying the music that plays in the background of many of the books)
If any of these sound appealing, fire up some audiobooks today! In addition to checking out your local library, be sure to browse these free online options:
Storyline Online: High-quality read-alouds, often read by actors and actresses. I especially love that this one includes an app — makes it easier for me to play books over Bluetooth speakers so we don’t need to worry about huddling around a screen.
The Indianapolis Public Library Ready to Read Compilation: These books are well-laid out visually for you to browse and click, taking you to a Youtube video read aloud. There’s some overlap with the books available on Storyline, but there’s still a great selection of old favorites along with some great newer reads!
Just Books Read Aloud: This one has the largest selection of the three at over 700 choices, though you will notice that the quality of the read alouds tends to be lower. But if a child finds a treasured book, I doubt he/she will mind!
What audiobooks or sources have you found and enjoyed?
featured image: DeathToTheStockPhoto
Fabulous suggestion. Listening, rather than watching, helps stimulate the imagination too, as we create our own pictures.