Here are a some examples of books that might interest kids in middle school and beyond.
Read to your middle schooler? Read to your teenager?
Well, even though not too many parents do this, I think that it still has benefits.
- Reading to your teenager or almost teenager can be fun and it brings the family together in an age where young adults want to do their own thing and not be with their parents.
- If a child struggles with reading subject matter (science, history etc.), reading the content aloud to your child may be a way for him or her to learn something that they would miss if they read it alone.
- I know a parent who regularly read to her teenager sons. Because it was something that she had always done when they were younger, it was a natural to keep it going. Her sons would pick the book and they would enjoy discussing it along the way.
- Many middle school and high school teachers read to their classes. At a time when listening skills seem to be diminishing, reading to teenagers may actually come in handy and remind them of the importance of hearing and remembering the spoken word.
Do you remember being read to as a teenager? Do you read to your middle schooler? I would love to hear your story of how it worked or didn’t work for you and your family.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi, Gladys. I have enjoyed reading your blog and will be coming back for more. My friend Michael read to his daughter Nellie until she left home for college! It was a bedtime ritual that neither wanted to give up. (P.S. Nellie just graduated from college with honors and earned a Fulbright scholarship!)
Thanks, Colleen, for the comment. I am glad that Michael started that wonderful tradition with Nellie. I bet Nellie will do the same with her children and the “gift goes on”!
My parents didn’t continue to read to me at this age however, I had a teacher who still did a read aloud in 7th grade. Mrs. Waterson–I will never forget! We all used to love sitting in our desks (she told us to sit however we were comfortable…feet tucked under us, a leg propped on the desk, etc.) and just listening to whatever book she engaged us in. It was such a relaxing part of a school day that I always looked forward to!