Reading aloud or books on tape, which is better?

[Mommieeeee]

Just wondering what your thoughts are...

Our family loves read alouds. But time commitments prevent us from doing as much read aloud as we would like. Do you think that listening to books on tape are equivalent to me reading a book aloud?

I used to love taking time cuddling on the couch (with at least one of the kids, the other is not a cuddler) and reading to them. Often my dh enjoyed this time too.

Our local library has a great selection of books on tape. Of course they don't have everything that I would like. Plus we spend alot of time in the car. We can listen to about 5 hours of tape a week. Currently we are listening to Man of the Family by Ralph Moody. (It is great, btw!)


So, do you think that this is as good as listening to me do read aloud?

[nancypants]

As far as what it does for a child's mind, I think it makes no difference who reads it. The child is listening to and imagining the story no matter who is reading it. Who reads it only matters as far as family bonding or the special time spent with each other reading if those are a part of why you find reading aloud special. These are just my opinions. :)

[Kim in Appalachia]

:D

I can't do good accents, and I can sound a bit monotone sometimes. If it is a hard book, I appreciate the professional reading.

[abbeyej]

I don't think one is "better" than the other -- both can be really useful. When you're reading aloud, you can stop, discuss, explain, elaborate... The whole experience is interactive -- and often cuddlesome. ;) Books on tape can be listened to at times when we can't read (driving), they can sometimes make difficult text more approachable, tapes don't get tired or lose their voices... And depending on the reader, they can be more listen-able than some people reading aloud... ;) Tapes also don't tear their hair out if someone wants to hear the same story over and over and over and over again.

While you can stop and explain when reading aloud, a tape requires that someone keep up -- if their mind wanders, they lose the story.

I vote for keeping them both up -- and don't ever feel guilty about going for one or the other.

[WTMindy]

Both are good. I love to read aloud to my kids, but we have limited time for this. We always have a good audio-book for our times in the car too. It makes us all look forward to going somewhere.

[Cindy in FL.]

We do a combination of the two. If it's something that I really want to be sure they all listen to and that I want to discuss with them, then I read it aloud. Otherwise we do books on tape.

Cindy

[RoughCollie]

I use books on tape when Lunch & Lit is in our schedule. Otherwise, until lately, I read aloud. My boys prefer to read books themselves now, for the most part.

[Jenny in Atl]

I don't think one is "better" than the other -- both can be really useful. When you're reading aloud, you can stop, discuss, explain, elaborate... The whole experience is interactive -- and often cuddlesome. ;) Books on tape can be listened to at times when we can't read (driving), they can sometimes make difficult text more approachable, tapes don't get tired or lose their voices... And depending on the reader, they can be more listen-able than some people reading aloud... ;) Tapes also don't tear their hair out if someone wants to hear the same story over and over and over and over again.

While you can stop and explain when reading aloud, a tape requires that someone keep up -- if their mind wanders, they lose the story.

I vote for keeping them both up -- and don't ever feel guilty about going for one or the other.
:iagree:

Audio bks have made my driving times a pure pleasure. And in Atl that's no small feat.

[tinkgumby]

I think having a mixture of both keeps things interesting! As several people have pointed out, audio books are especially great for driving time that might otherwise be "wasted."

[Marie in Oh]

in his presentation "Raising Competent Communicaotors." I hear you can download them from the IEW website, but I haven't comfirmed this. I highly recommend this presentation.

[Cindy in FL.]

My guys really like to put something on while they're in their rooms playing. Nothing like The Lord of the Rings going while they're building fortesses out of wooden blocks and arraying their armies.

Cindy

[Stirsmommy]

I don't know what it is about me and reading aloud. I read voraciously for myself but if I am reading aloud to the kids I get so sleepy. Yawning is very off putting when you get to the exciting parts. DS and I do the cuddle time with cd in sometimes. Other times we do stuff like coloring (him) and knitting (me) while it is happening. It has made all the difference to our read aloud time.