TEN THINGS We Love About ‘Read-Aloud’ Lounge Time

I love LISTS and I love things being organized in box-type containers. A TEN THINGS list is like that!  I enjoy writing things in a structured, contained way. You will find links to all the TEN THINGS posts at the end of each. ENJOY!

Every school day in the mornings we have “lounge time”. We we put blankets down in the lounge for the littlies to do activities on while they listen and we spend an hour or so reading books together and discussing them. We read history books, science books, missionary stories and chapter books like the Moody Series, Little House Books, Boxcar Children, Rod and Staff Storybooks, etc. Previously we would read these at odd times during the day but it wasn’t very consistent. Now “lounge time” is the richest part of our school day. We got the idea from Kimberly at Raising Olives and we love having this time set aside each day to read and talk about what we are learning. Its a great way to start the school day.

TEN THINGS We Love About “Lounge Time”.

1. The children and I (littlies and older ones) love being all together to read and connect with each other after doing our morning chores.

2. We experience the richness and joy of learning & experiencing life thorough reading books – together.

3. It is wonderful to read and learn history together and to look the world globe to see where things happened. The children love to study the world globe, to see the oceans, the countries and learn how the world turns! They always have so many questions and are so fascinated by our world and by God’s plan. Studying the Bible with Dad helps them to tie it all together in their minds.

4. Its a great time to work on our Scripture memory together. We read through new passages and recite those we have already memorized. We also learn different character traits that God’s Word teaches like  obedience, patience, orderliness, etc.

5. Our children enjoy reading their current readers aloud to us all – or sometimes the older ones read a story to the others just for fun while Mom gets a snack for everyone.

6. Lounge time is a great time to enjoy and learn poetry together – we laugh and learn. (We select our poetry very carefully as most is not in line with our values.)

7. Its a great time for “fine-motor skill development” activities for the little ones to do while they sit on their blankets and listen to stories. It keeps them occupied for a good while as their hands and ears are busy! I have special “lounge time” activites boxes for them to choose an activity from. The older ones will often do colouring or drawing while I read.

8. We have such great discussions and conversations around what we are reading and learning. Great questions come out this time too. Often we will continue the family discussion later at the dinner table and ask Daddy questions from the day. We also love to read missionary stories together and develop our hearts for the gospel in all the world. We love how this helps us grow in faith and love for others.

9. We love working on our TIMELNE (we use the one from KONOS) and adding to it each time we read about a character from history. We have it stuck up in the passage near our lounge, so its easy to view and to access from there.

10. As Kimberley from Raising Olives puts it…

The way that God commands parents to educate their children is to talk with them, to converse with them ALL THE TIME, to be available when their children have questions.  Parents should be instructing their children throughout the day, during their daily activities and in all the circumstances of life (see RO post).

and

We want to learn together as much as possible.  We do not want to send our 12 year old off to her room with her pile of books, and our 11 year old somewhere else with her pile, and our 10 year old off with his pile, etc.  We want to learn together, to develop relationships while we develop knowledge and to be able to learn from each other (see RO post).

We love that “lounge time” is the centre of our homeschooling day – even though we do various desk and other activities later – this is where learning comes alive for us all! This is where we can disciple our children through our input in their lives. This is where we pick up on things that need explaining and talk about “stuff” together as it comes up. This time is such a blessing for us all and I am sure it will extend to 2 hours or more as our children get older. I can honestly say that since we started doing lounge time our homeschooling has really come together – its like the glue to our days!

Read this awesome article on God’s Method for Education with which I agree wholeheartedly!

This post is linked to WFMW

“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” – Deuteronomy 6 v 6-7

TEN THINGS POSTS

TEN THINGS We Love About ‘Read-Aloud’ Lounge Time
TEN THINGS We No Longer Value and What Has Replaced Them
TEN THINGS about Family Fun Night
TEN THINGS “I Do Notice, Mommy”
TEN THINGS about Geography with Little Ones
TEN THINGS To Do with Edible Seeds
TEN THINGS to Help You in the Kitchen
TEN THINGS About My Days