We absolutely love audiobooks at our house. My kids can hear a favorite book multiple times or each listen to a different book with their individual iPods. I can enjoy knowing that their minds are full of wonderful literature, inspiring stories, or fun characters as they listen.
My favorite part of audiobooks is how they’ve changed our evening routine.
By 8 PM it’s room time at our house. All the kids go to their rooms with their iPods. They listen to an audiobook while they work on craft projects, build with blocks, play with cars, or color. This is their 30 minutes of quiet time before the lights go out.
They love this time and look forward to listening to their stories. However, they don’t realize that this evening time is really more about my sanity than the good literature. Mom (and Dad) both need a little down time after a busy day. Sometimes I even have time to blissfully read an entire chapter of a book for myself!
Why are audiobooks wonderful? They allow my kids to………
Read books above their level
Hear and understand vocabulary words
Use new words correctly in context
Hear models of good reading and syntax
Learn to be a good listener
Be introduced o different accents or dialects
Delight in hearing a story told well
Hear fluent reading modeled correctly
Listen while their hands are busy
Conveniently listen to a book at any time
Hear a book multiple times
Learn to love reading through listening to high interest and challenging books
Be encouraged in learning to read
Hear a text come alive
Be dramatic silly and fun with new stories
Listen individually to a book or listen together as a family
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