What If You Can't Read Aloud?

It’s been a long time since I had my first surgery on my trachea. At two per year, I am up to 18 surgeries now. And every time they stick a pipe down my throat so that I can breathe again, my vocal chords take more damage. Reading aloud to my kids is hard for me, and reading aloud when during allergy season, or cold season is next to impossible. But I want my kids to hear great books (and not just read for themselves.) The benefits of hearing books are many, but especially for my younger kids who are late readers, listening to amazing books is not optional. Every once in a while I feel guilty about that. Mostly, I just rely on audiobooks to fill the need when I can’t read to them myself. I call it the “Third Party Read Aloud”. In fact, my kids love audio books so much, we have given them as Christmas presents before!

Reading Aloud could be hard for you for so many different reasons. Moms are busy! Rather than feeling guilty, why not just check out your local library’s collection or find some free downloads on the internet?

Post by Homeschool Encouragement.

I just asked 604 Moms on my Facebook page what their favorite read alouds were — and guess what? Most of those books are available as audio downloads for your mp3 player or computer. Most public libraries have access to Overdrive now, and you can “borrow” audiobooks for your mp3 player for 3 weeks at a time — just check on your local library website to find an access point or password. Of course, many libraries also have large cd collections of children’s audiobooks. If you don’t have any idea where to start to get free books off of the internet and onto one of your devices, I walk you through the process in my book called Listening To Learn: Using Audio Files For Your Homeschool ($5).