Art of Homeschooling Podcast

Favorite Winter Read-Alouds for Cozy Homeschool Days

• Jean Miller • Season 1 • Episode 217

Share episode

EP217: It’s time for our favorite winter read-alouds for cozy homeschool days!

In this episode of the Art of Homeschooling Podcast, Jean shares three read-aloud strategies and a list of her favorite winter read-aloud books which you'll find at www.artofhomeschooling.com/episode217. 

As you’ll hear in the episode, stories speak directly to our hearts and the best stories hold heartwarming illustrations and vivid, descriptive text within their pages.

Stories are the very marrow of homeschooling, especially Waldorf-inspired homeschooling. They bring us together for a beautiful shared experience and offer new ideas and learning through narrative and imagination.

Reading stories together is joyful and cozy, meaningful and simple!

From birth through early childhood and as your child grows through the grades, stories are a valuable tool for teaching and building connections. Connections to each other, the natural world, and communities near and far.

Enjoy this heartwarming discussion! You’ll walk away inspired with new tools and ideas to approach the magic of reading books and sharing stories in your homeschool.

Find the Show Notes here  https://artofhomeschooling.com/episode217/

Join the Inspired at Home Community

Send Jean a text message.

Support the show

Thanks for listening! 💜

▶️Let's Connect!
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/art.of.homeschooling/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/artofhomeschoolingwithjean
Website https://artofhomeschooling.com

Speaker 1:

You're listening to the Art of Homeschooling podcast, where we help parents cultivate creativity and connection at home. I'm your host, jean Miller, and here on this podcast you'll find stories and inspiration to bring you the confidence you need to make homeschooling work for your family. Let's begin. Let's talk today about reading aloud, cozying up with our kiddos and reading a great story. Reading aloud to children is such a wonderful experience for homeschooling families, a beautiful yet simple way to bring joy to our homeschooling days and inspire our children to fall in love with books. Books really can cultivate warm relationships while transporting us all to imaginative worlds. As homeschoolers, the significance of good stories goes even deeper because, as human beings, we all long to feel moved, deeply touched by what we learn, and that's really at the heart of all education. In my experience, the Waldorf approach does an incredible job of making that kind of meaningful impact on our children by building the lessons on a foundation of beautifully told and beautifully written stories. In today's episode, I want to give you three actionable and practical strategies for choosing and sharing stories with your children. I also have a special treat for you a printable winter stories book list that you can download and take with you to your local public library or use to order from your favorite bookshop. Head over to artofhomeschoolingcom slash episode 217 to get your copy and get ready for some cozy reading. Before we get to the strategies about choosing and sharing stories with our kiddos, I want to talk about connection, one of my favorite mantras that I share with homeschooling parents all the time is rather than perfection, let's focus on connection. You'll hear that, in fact, at the end of every episode here on the Art of Homeschooling podcast, rudolf Steiner, the founder of the first Waldorf School, talked about how we want to create connection with children in as many ways as possible. Here's one of his quotes that I love, something he said to the very first Waldorf teachers on day one of their teacher training back in 1919. He said communication must be from soul to soul. I think of that quote every time I consider how to build a heart connection with our children and how grateful I am for how homeschooling provides the time and the space for these deep connections to be fostered. Keep in mind that reading stories together can help strengthen your daily rhythm as well. Coming together to connect through stories and books can offer an anchor point in your homeschooling day, or even multiple anchor points, much like coming together for family meal times. Here's a beautiful example of this from Sarah, homeschooling mom of four. She describes this scenario.

Speaker 1:

The youngest one or two of my kiddos were always earlier risers and would come to me first thing in the morning with storybooks in hand. Sometimes we would read in my bed while the littlest one nursed, or sometimes we would curl up on the sofa with cozy blankets and I would drink hot tea and read until the world was ready to wake up. Sometimes my littles would eat breakfast on the couch too. Then we would go about starting our day. When chores were done and everyone was ready, we would come together again for our lesson stories, starting with the youngest child's stories first. Then we'd go about our lesson work from there. More stories were read before nap, maybe after nap time, until a sleepy head was ready to be off of my lap. Stories were pulled out anytime. Anyone was upset, needed a cuddle or had a boo-boo, and then, of course, more stories at bedtime. So many wonderful stories. We had similar experiences at my house and I relish the memories of snuggling up on the couch with all three kiddos for the next chapter of a book. We were all looking forward to hearing what came next.

Speaker 1:

Oh, the stories. Stories that speak to our hearts, that are told in a way that, as Steiner said and this is a quote evokes a kind of silent, thrilled awe end quote. Don't you want to bring your children stories that can do that. Through stories we can share a narrative that teaches and awakens our children's. Stories. That can do that. Through stories we can share a narrative that teaches and awakens our children's imaginations. Without direct instruction or explanations, stories really do make great teachers and are a way to bring new subjects and new material in our homeschooling lessons.

Speaker 1:

Storytelling is really at the heart of Waldorf education. The literary arts sit at the top of an eight-pointed star that I call the lively arts. We can tell stories of our own childhoods at bedtime, read stories of life in other cultures and eras, to study ancient history and paint pictures in our imaginations from fairy tales. But the most important criteria is that the stories are beautiful and speak to us personally. So we want to choose the stories and books with love and special care. Here are three strategies that can help. Strategy number one what to consider when choosing books.

Speaker 1:

When choosing books for your children, I encourage you to consider not only their age and grade level, but also the stage of development they're in, along with their personal interests. What should we look for in choosing developmentally appropriate picture books? Parents who are inspired by Waldorf often ask me how do I find a quote unquote Waldorf book, or what quote unquote Waldorf books are and are not? Now there really is no such thing. But the idea behind these questions, I think, is how do we find really rich and engaging stories?

Speaker 1:

Here are some specific things to think about when choosing picture books for young children. We can look for soft illustrations with colored pencils or watercolor paintings, along with rhythmic, rhyming or repetitious text. With rhythmic rhyming or repetitious text Simple stories that are not overly didactic meaning. We don't want stories that tell too strongly or overtly our children to do or not do something like pick up your toys or use manners. We want gentle messages and loving relationships. Stories can have a loving message that will bloom quietly within your child's imagination. I often describe this to parents as finding stories that light you up, that spark something in your heart. When you share stories that light you up, your children will pick up on that.

Speaker 1:

Here's a recent experience from Sarah to give you a real life example. She says. I recently read a review for a picture book that sounded wonderful. I requested it from the library and was so excited, but sadly the book looks like it's computer illustrated and the text is not inspiring at all. This is a great example of the importance of previewing books first, so that we can be selective about the books we present to our kiddos, especially very little ones. Sarah and I have both been very cautious about the books that we bring into our homes. Sarah talks about how she didn't take her kiddos to the huge public library very often because the choices were overwhelming and not all of very high quality. They often visited their small village library instead. I would rely on a few of my favorite librarians to help us find books. Book lists from reliable sources, like the winter book list we're including with this episode, can also be very helpful. All right.

Speaker 1:

Strategy number two how to bring the stories. Those new to the Waldorf approach often ask do I have to memorize all the stories and tell them by heart? No, this is not a mandatory requirement. This is actually a Waldorf myth, or one of those practices that we all think we have to do but are what some in the Waldorf world call sacred nothings. The truth is, when we connect to the emotion in the story we are reading, so will our children. This is what creates that magical storytelling atmosphere. Many homeschooling parents are relieved to hear this.

Speaker 1:

I have three steps to offer you for reading stories to children that come from Rudolf Steiner himself. That's right, steiner discusses how to read a story to children, and in this case he's not talking about telling the story, he's talking about reading the story, and he shares this on day six of his lectures to the very first teachers. I know this seems to run counter to what a lot of us hear about the way we're supposed to do things, but in this entire lecture Steiner talks about reading passages aloud to the children. Now, of course, in other lectures Steiner states that telling stories, and even making them up ourselves, can be very healing to the children. But we can have both in our homeschools, telling the stories by heart and reading stories from wonderful books.

Speaker 1:

Here are the steps Steiner suggests for reading stories to children. There are three of them. Step one is read the story yourself first. Step two is think about a few things to call attention to before reading the story to the children. This might be a few themes, anything you think the children might need to know to comprehend in order to get the story's deeper meaning or something of interest to them or even to you. Sometimes it's a little snippet of a personal experience you've had or a comparison or analogy when we hold the emotions of the story. Steiner says and here's another quote you can read aloud the passage and when you have read it explanations will be unnecessary. That is so helpful.

Speaker 1:

Steiner does this in a really fun, playful way. He gives examples in this lecture of what he might say to the children and he doesn't talk down to them or patronize them. His manner is extremely natural and even might seem a little rough and tumble to some of us, a far cry from a serious or almost ethereal approach to working with children. His approach is much more academic and less protective than many of us may perceive as Waldorf methods. You can also tell just from the way Steiner talks to the first teachers in his lectures that he really wants the teachers to find their own natural way of working with the children which brings into play their own really meaning, our own unique personalities. All right, step number three read the story aloud to the children and leave it be Steiner's words here. If you start pedantically analyzing the passage and droning on and on with explanations, you will destroy the child's feeling and perceptions of its underlying meaning and the contentment that reading aloud produces in the soul. Oh, what a beautiful explanation.

Speaker 1:

A few years back, when my friend and homeschooling colleague Allison and I talked about what Steiner said about reading aloud, she had this to say this makes me think of the narration approach, or how we retell the story the next day in our Waldorf-inspired homeschools. It is so simple to do and the educational results are profound. Also, this is really helpful in thinking about the way we go about teaching even our high schoolers. In addition to thinking about reading and then coming back to discuss, we want to prepare the soil a little more. First, allison and I have collaborated on some really wonderful book hearth guides together, where we create an entire main lesson block around one wonderful book. First, we choose the book really carefully. We encourage you to read the story aloud and let it rest, and in the book guide we give you a menu of possible learning experiences that you can bring to your children that become the bricks to build your main lesson block. Experiences such as reciting poetry, engaging in hands-on experiences, retelling or acting out the story, writing prompts, discussion questions, research ideas, a culminating experience and other books that you could gather in a book basket to go along with the main book For each book hearth guide. These are well-thought out learning experiences specific to the story and crafted by two experienced homeschooling moms who love books and sharing stories with their children. If you're interested in checking out the guides we have available, you can go to our shop at shopartofhomeschoolingcom where you'll see a tab for book guides in the menu bar. We also talk a lot about building a block around one book. Inside the Inspired at Home community we have an entire masterclass, in fact, on building your own blocks, and members love to share how they've used great books to build main lesson blocks for different ages on our coaching calls. So if you'd love a community of heart-centered homeschoolers from all over the world, come join Inspired at Home. I'll put a link for more details in the show notes.

Speaker 1:

All right, we're on to strategy number three where to find the stories and book lists. We've got you covered here With this episode. We've created a printable for you of a winter book list. Head over to artofhomeschoolingcom, slash episode 217 to get your copy. We're planning to create a list like this for each season of the year, so be sure to stay tuned to the podcast. Here's a nice idea. You could gather some of the books from this list into a winter book basket and, if you purchase some of the books, keep the seasonal books up on a special shelf of their own or in their own box that you can pull off the shelf just for that season as a way to rotate your book baskets seasonally. This creates a fresh surprise every few months and also creates anchor points in the rhythm of your year.

Speaker 1:

Here are a few other resources for book lists. There's a wonderful collection called Make Way for Reading Great Books for Kindergarten Through Grade 8. I'll put a link to that in the show notes and you can also look on websites of some of the Waldorf schools for their reading lists. Check out the Austin Waldorf School Reading List or Summer Reading Lists from the Denver Waldorf School or, if you have older kiddos, the Waldorf High School suggested summer reading list you can find on the Waldorf Online Library. I'll be sure to link to all those in the show notes as well.

Speaker 1:

As we wrap up this episode, here is a quick recap of the three strategies One, what to consider when choosing books. Two, how to bring the stories. And three, where to find the stories and book lists. In closing, I just want to encourage you to think about your own reading life. What stories do you enjoy reading? Do your children see you reading? Do they witness your delight in sharing books with them?

Speaker 1:

For me, I've always loved books. Reading fiction as a young teen really saved me from so much of the pain and chaos of my parents' divorce. And then my first job out of college was working for a book publishing company in New York City. That's when I started collecting children's books, which have always held a special place in my heart. And I have to say, some of my very favorite memories from our homeschooling years are curling up on the couch with all three of my kiddos to read a great novel. I always felt like it was such an honor and a privilege to have time each day to read aloud together.

Speaker 1:

Now that all three of my kiddos are grown, I love hearing about what they're reading. And what a joy that when we had a baby shower for our first grandchild, everyone was asked to bring a beloved book as a gift, passing the love of reading on to future generations. I'll leave you with this wonderful quote from children's book author, katherine Patterson. A fondness for books is catching. Here's to enjoying wonderful stories with your children. That's all for today, my friend, but here's what I want you to remember Rather than perfection, let's focus on connection. Thanks so much for listening, and I'll see you on the next episode of the Art of Homeschooling podcast. Thank you.