How I Got My Read-Aloud Mojo Back

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Hundreds and hundreds of chapter books. That's what I've spent a lot of the last 17 years of homeschooling doing: reading, literally, hundreds of chapter books aloud to my kids.

I have always loved reading aloud together, but I finally got burnt out last year and just couldn't bring myself to read another word. It was a combination of mom-exhaustion and a wiggly 7-year-old. As he eventually seemed to be able to listen better to the history lessons I was reading aloud this fall, I decided it was probably time to end the hiatus.

But what to read? It had to appeal to both an 11-year-old daughter and a 7-year-old son, the two who are with me all day, every day. The teens are in and out with classes and Classical Conversations and sports and music, but these two have hours of time to hang out with me and be read to.

A book I had read several years ago caught my eye on the school room bookshelf. It's Meindert DeJong's The Wheel on the School, and yes - one chapter in and they were both hooked! Me too! This sweet and adventurous tale is set in Holland and follows a group of school children as they try to get the storks back to their village. It's such a well-written tale! Plus, how can you resist the illustrations by Maurice Sendak?

How to Get Your Read-Aloud Mojo Back

wait until you have willing listeners
let them play quietly with something or draw or color while you read
choose a book you will love reading as much as they will love hearing
give yourself permission to keep going and skip another subject if you're all enjoying the story