Comments on: An Ordinary Magic http://breathlessnoon.com/2008/01/17/an-ordinary-magic/ Religion, Philosophy, Life Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:46:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Runa http://breathlessnoon.com/2008/01/17/an-ordinary-magic/#comment-20735 Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:54:11 +0000 http://breathlessnoon.com/2008/01/17/an-ordinary-magic/#comment-20735 My little sister and I shared a room for many years, and I still remember the times when our mom came in and read the first Harry Potter book to her :) My little sister and I shared a room for many years, and I still remember the times when our mom came in and read the first Harry Potter book to her :)

]]> by: Karen Wingate http://breathlessnoon.com/2008/01/17/an-ordinary-magic/#comment-19706 Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:25:49 +0000 http://breathlessnoon.com/2008/01/17/an-ordinary-magic/#comment-19706 How exciting to hear the testimonies of other parents who have given their children the gift of reading. At the very time my children were preschoolers, I read an article in Reader's Digest about Barbara Bush who said the best educational thing parents can do is "Read, Read, Read." She encouraged parents to keep reading aloud to their children even after the children learned to read. My girls, 18 and 19, still remember Tom Sawyer, all seven books of Chronicles and Narnia and the entire series of Little House on the Prairie books. Both of them love poetry. As older teens, they've joined me in reading the same book, then we talk about it. What fun! Thank you so much for telling your story and bringing back precious memories for me. How exciting to hear the testimonies of other parents who have given their children the gift of reading. At the very time my children were preschoolers, I read an article in Reader’s Digest about Barbara Bush who said the best educational thing parents can do is “Read, Read, Read.” She encouraged parents to keep reading aloud to their children even after the children learned to read. My girls, 18 and 19, still remember Tom Sawyer, all seven books of Chronicles and Narnia and the entire series of Little House on the Prairie books. Both of them love poetry. As older teens, they’ve joined me in reading the same book, then we talk about it. What fun! Thank you so much for telling your story and bringing back precious memories for me.

]]> by: Judi Coran http://breathlessnoon.com/2008/01/17/an-ordinary-magic/#comment-19686 Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:37:28 +0000 http://breathlessnoon.com/2008/01/17/an-ordinary-magic/#comment-19686 How fun to stumble upon this blog, read your story and find similarities to my own experience. My children are now 23 and 21. We all have fond memories of "Family waterbed time" when all four of us would come together each night and lay on the bed and read for an hour or two. It grew into that much time. We read so many wonderful books. It took us away from television and also gave us time to talk with each other. Both of my children have great vocabularies, are good communicators and still love to read. In their teenage years I noticed that they were able to talk with the parents of their friends. A lot of their freinds wouldn't communicate with me or other adults. Now in their twenties they are using their communication skills in the workplace. Reading aloud to children is a great gift that will keep on giving. How fun to stumble upon this blog, read your story and find similarities to my own experience. My children are now 23 and 21. We all have fond memories of “Family waterbed time” when all four of us would come together each night and lay on the bed and read for an hour or two. It grew into that much time. We read so many wonderful books. It took us away from television and also gave us time to talk with each other. Both of my children have great vocabularies, are good communicators and still love to read. In their teenage years I noticed that they were able to talk with the parents of their friends. A lot of their freinds wouldn’t communicate with me or other adults. Now in their twenties they are using their communication skills in the workplace. Reading aloud to children is a great gift that will keep on giving.

]]> by: Cat Chapin-Bishop http://breathlessnoon.com/2008/01/17/an-ordinary-magic/#comment-18803 Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:29:13 +0000 http://breathlessnoon.com/2008/01/17/an-ordinary-magic/#comment-18803 Oh, I am so glad you are a practitioner of this magical art! Mostly because I love it so well myself--I became a high school English teacher in part because my own daughter is now past the age of read-aloud (though only because, at 21, she has her own apartment!). Reading aloud and being read to are two of the great joys in life. True, not everyone is as masterful as your Aunt Yolande, but it's such bliss to take on the voices and the personas, and watch the magic take hold of an audience yet again. Kind of like being a famous actress, but without having to join the Screen Actor's Guild, wait tables, or live life on a diet! And it's great for kids, it really is. Did you know that even children's books have vocabulary levels that are significantly higher than television or conversation? Kids who are being read to are learning so many things about the world that they can't get any other way. And, honestly, even as teenagers, they love it...and keep on growing through it. (I highly recommend Jim Trelease's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Read-Aloud-Handbook-Sixth/dp/0143037390/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201051684&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">Read-Aloud Handbook</a> for all kinds of reasons to read aloud to kids, large and small.) Oh, I am so glad you are a practitioner of this magical art! Mostly because I love it so well myself–I became a high school English teacher in part because my own daughter is now past the age of read-aloud (though only because, at 21, she has her own apartment!).

Reading aloud and being read to are two of the great joys in life. True, not everyone is as masterful as your Aunt Yolande, but it’s such bliss to take on the voices and the personas, and watch the magic take hold of an audience yet again. Kind of like being a famous actress, but without having to join the Screen Actor’s Guild, wait tables, or live life on a diet!

And it’s great for kids, it really is. Did you know that even children’s books have vocabulary levels that are significantly higher than television or conversation? Kids who are being read to are learning so many things about the world that they can’t get any other way.

And, honestly, even as teenagers, they love it…and keep on growing through it. (I highly recommend Jim Trelease’s Read-Aloud Handbook for all kinds of reasons to read aloud to kids, large and small.)

]]> by: erica http://breathlessnoon.com/2008/01/17/an-ordinary-magic/#comment-18706 Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:33:10 +0000 http://breathlessnoon.com/2008/01/17/an-ordinary-magic/#comment-18706 What a pleasure :) I look forward to reading to my guy too, although as yet he's too busy learning to run and jump and hop to sit still. What a pleasure :) I look forward to reading to my guy too, although as yet he’s too busy learning to run and jump and hop to sit still.

]]> by: tim bulkeley http://breathlessnoon.com/2008/01/17/an-ordinary-magic/#comment-18639 Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:10:06 +0000 http://breathlessnoon.com/2008/01/17/an-ordinary-magic/#comment-18639 Great! Reading to/with kids is really fun, good for them, good for you. I really miss having kids to read to, that's probably why I do Librivox ;) BTW if you want to show the younger one my Beatrix Potter readings some time I'd be delighted http://bigbible.org/children there are audio only Just So Stories there that the older one might like. Great! Reading to/with kids is really fun, good for them, good for you. I really miss having kids to read to, that’s probably why I do Librivox ;)

BTW if you want to show the younger one my Beatrix Potter readings some time I’d be delighted http://bigbible.org/children there are audio only Just So Stories there that the older one might like.

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