Read-Aloud Revival ®

Today, in this Best Of Read Aloud Revival episode, we’re revisiting a conversation about a series I absolutely adore: The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall. The Penderwicks follows the escapades of four spirited sisters, Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty. The books are a modern nod to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, and they’ve won tons of awards including the National Book Award for Young People’s...

In this episode, I’m answering more of your questions. You’ve sent in some fabulous messages and I’m going to tackle them rapid-fire for you and answer as many as possible today.  Today I’m sharing about when to use Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) or teach composition, when and how to start using the library, and what to do when a teenager doesn’t enjoy reading. In this episode, you’ll h...

Full show notes can be found here: You Don't Need to Make the Most of Your Summer Get RAR Premium HERE>>

In today’s episode, I’m answering your questions! Listeners have sent in some fabulous questions for me, and I’m going to attempt to tackle them rapid-fire, including about where I get my favorite art prints, what to do with late-night readers, what to do if you don’t feel like you read aloud well, and more. In this episode, you’ll hear:  My favorite places to find bookish art What I do if my kids...

Two weeks ago I shared the first 5 of 10 mistakes I’ve made in my homeschool -- believe me, I’ve made many, many more than that!  But I’m highlighting 10 that stick out most prominently to me. So in the last “Best of Read-Aloud Revival” episode, I shared the first 5 and today I’m sharing the next 5.  Hopefully, hearing these will keep you from making the mistakes I have. Homeschooling is a joy and...

I’ve been homeschooling for a long time, and just like every other homeschooling mom I know, I’ve made a ton of mistakes.  When I was new to homeschooling, I craved the insight of people who had been doing it for a while:  What do you wish you did more of?  What do you wish you worried less about?  What would you do differently if you were starting over again? These are the kinds of things I wante...

Why do we make things mean more than they actually mean? We all do it.  We realize a kid doesn’t know how to tie their shoes at age 12, and we tell ourselves we’re forgetting to teach SO MANY IMPORTANT THINGS.  We feed our kids frozen pizza for dinner twice in a week and think it means we don’t care about their health.  We sleep late and tell ourselves we’re lazy.  We have a late reader and think...

Today, I’m sharing a conversation with my friend and colleague, Cindy West. Cindy teaches at No Sweat Nature Study, a homeschool nature study program that takes the guesswork out of nature study by teaching your kids directly. Cindy is also the host of the No Sweat Nature Study podcast, which features short episodes about nature. (My kids absolutely love it!) Cindy and I recently had a conversatio...

I have a theory that if I were to ask a hundred of today’s children’s book authors and illustrators to name a book that had a profound impact on them, I bet an unusually large number of those authors and illustrators would mention the work of E.B. White. I cannot count the number of times I’ve heard authors say that E.B. White’s books have made such a huge difference in their lives and writing. I’...

Every year, the Read-Aloud Revival team watches the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards together. This is the award show where the medals that are considered the most prestigious in children’s publishing are given. Today I’m joined by Kortney Garrison, our Community Director, Kara Anderson, our Creative Director, and Harmony Harkema, or brand new Managing Editor at both Read-Aloud Re...

Oh boy, do we have a treat for you today! Our team here at Read-Aloud Revival has been hard at work on a brand new booklist for you and I’ve invited Kortney Garrison and Kara Anderson from the RAR team back to this side of the podcast to tell you all about it. Nature study can be an intimidating subject that carries a lot of expectations in the homeschooling world. It’s something we want to do, bu...

What do you do if you notice that your child isn’t finishing books? How can you get your kids to widen their reading taste outside of a single genre? How can you describe what you do for literature on a high school transcript when you take a more relaxed Read-Aloud Revival approach to the subject? And what can you do to help boost your child’s emotional intelligence and reading comprehension while...

I want to help you think about what’s most essential in your homeschool.  I’ve invited Kortney Garrison and Kara Anderson from the RAR team to chat with me about a favorite book when it comes to essentializing. We've been talking and thinking about the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown a lot here at Read Aloud Revival, especially as it relates to homeschooling. We're reading the book in our Mama B...

The Long Winter is the sixth book in the Little House on the Prairie series. It was first published in 1940, and is an autobiographical novel. Laura Ingalls Wilder based the series on her actual life as a child, settling the west. This particular story, The Long Winter , was set in the southwestern Dakota Territory during the severe winter of 1880-1881 when Laura was 14 years old.  Even if you hav...

In this bonus episode, you'll hear: How Sarah's Jolabokaflod really went Can we actually fall in love with the homeschooling lives we already have? All-new for 2023 -- Circle with Sarah: RAR Premium Homeschool Coaching For the full show notes, head here.  

What if I told you that there’s an Icelandic Christmas tradition where you spend an entire day (or evening) reading books and sipping hot cocoa? And it’s what you’re SUPPOSED to be doing. Yes, this is a real thing! It’s called Jolabokaflod, and in this episode, you’ll hear:  Where the tradition came from 3 super-simple steps to your own Jolabokaflod How other mamas just like you have made the trad...

By now, most of us are knee deep in our homeschool year. And no matter how far into your year you are, and no matter what’s happened that you either did, or didn’t, expect to happen, I’m willing to bet that something funny has happened: You’re carrying around a lot of pinecones. What on earth do I mean by that? In this episode, you’ll hear:  All the ways we end up with a metaphorical 56-pound back...

Is it really possible to teach from rest? Even if you’re teaching a lot of different ages? And even if you feel a bit underwater, pretty much every single day in your homeschool? Let’s talk about it.  This fall in Circle with Sarah, we’re diving deep into the principles of Sarah’s first book, Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler’s Guide to Unshakable Peace … and today we’re sharing some of it with y...

Chances are good that you’re already familiar with the picture book sensation turned childhood classic, Bear Snores On. But do you know the woman who wrote it? Karma Wilson has come up with some of her best ideas while eating ice cream or visiting the zoo. She was saved as a child, in a way, by C.S. Lewis’s Narnia.  And… she homeschooled her own kids for many years as a way to ensure that they wou...

Have you ever asked yourself, “Am I doing enough?” I think we’ve all asked that question. If you’re homeschooling your kids, you might ask it every single day. It might even wake you up at night and feel like an elephant sitting on your chest. 🐘 Today, we’re going to talk about it. Find the rest of the show notes https://readaloudrevival.com/214/ .

I t’s Victorian London in the late 1800’s… and it’s been five years since the Sweep disappeared. Orphaned and alone, Nan Sparrow has no other choice but to work for a ruthless chimney sweep named Wilkie Crudd. She spends her days doing dangerous work–sweeping out chimneys. The job is thankless, but with her wits and will, Nan has managed to beat the deadly odds time and time again. This time, thou...

Have you ever REALLY worried about one of your kids? What should you do if you don’t feel like you read aloud well? What’s the point of poetry memorization? What would you tell a mom who is confused about all the different homeschooling philosophies and methods? How do I know that I’m doing enough? What about homeschooling high school? These are all questions you might have…  I’ve had them too. An...

Last time on the Read-Aloud Revival, I told you about the inspiration for the creation of Waxwing Books and our first book,   A Little More Beautiful: The Story of a Garden.   In this episode, I’ll take you on the rest of the adventure, from connecting with illustrator Breezy Brookshire to bringing on editor Michael Green, and finding art director Cara Llewellyn. Find the rest of the show notes he...

I t’s time! It’s time! It’s time! 🥳 We are SO excited to open pre-orders for our first release at Waxwing Books.  It’s a story about seeing and being seen for readers who love Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney or The Library by Sarah Stewart and David Small. Find the rest of the show notes here https://readaloudrevival.com/kickstarter/ .

Way back in August 2018, I was fortunate to spend a morning with the author of The Penderwicks , Jeanne Birdsall. It was a glorious morning, truly, and something surprising came of it. A little idea popped into my head, and it just sort of… rooted itself. Actually… the idea that popped into my head didn’t just stay an idea.  It became something much bigger resulting in our biggest, newest project...