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| Reading Aloud by Betsy Williams Picture the last time your whole family spent an evening together. If you are like many, that evening included some time in front of T.V. Maybe you were watching a favorite movie on the VCR, or your home-state basketball team. Chances are you didn't talk much to each other. In fact, you were a pretty passive bunch all around! From time to time you shared a laugh or responsive comment, but television viewing by and large did not stimulate group interaction. Now picture another family scene in which children are curled up on the couch or stretched out on the floor, holding their favorite stuffed animal or cuddling with a parent or family pet. One person is reading aloud—it could be an adult or child. From time to time meaningful glances are exchanged around the room, accompanied by expressions of excitement or wonder as the story unfolds. Someone is reminded of something that happened to them and everyone temporarily lapses into discussion. There was a time when reading aloud was a much-anticipated evening ritual for families and friends of all ages. Not so, today! Take a moment right now and re-read the poem/sermon that starts on page 1, only this time read it aloud to someone. Did you notice anything different about the images your mind created as you heard the words spoken aloud? Did you find yourself slowing down, pausing more to let the images sink in? Could you sense the presence of those listening to you, sense a connection with them as you journeyed together through the world of imagery and metaphor? I discovered the hidden potential of this activity on a backwoods camping trip followed by a drive across the U.S. The book my companion and I read aloud was One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Twenty years later I still remember images from that book, can still hear some of the actual words, can still drift into a rich reverie of that trip. I recently talked with a CLFer who reads avidly to both children and seniors. When her husband was alive they spent many hours taking turns reading to each other, each night before sleep and on car rides. We talked about the emotional bond that makes this activity so valuable. Another UU, Boston Globe columnist Linda Weltner, observed: "I remember the first time I noticed that my younger daughter snuggled against pillows in the corner of the couch before she began reading...summoning my presence by recreating the comfort of my body, keeping me by her side in spirit. Suddenly I understood that all those years, while she'd been looking at the pictures in books while I read aloud, she'd been involved in a ritual far more complex than mastering letters and sounds." Reading aloud is filled with ritual that builds relationships, communicates love, safety and belonging. The active, physical nature of reading aloud stimulates thoughtful reflection and discussion, often leading to greater self or social understanding. Reading aloud forces you to slow down, allowing the images to become richer and more meaningful. Something read aloud is usually remembered far longer than something read silently. For families wondering how to "do" religious education at home, here is a simple and effective answer: read together! And what better time to start a new nightly ritual of reading aloud than summer? Gather the whole family—let your own little rituals develop as you settle in. Take turns reading aloud. If your children are not old enough to read, have them make up stories to tell you. You can also take turns telling a story (a technique called mutual storytelling), creating elaborate and exciting adventures. Many great prophets taught in parables as a way to reach listeners on a deep intuitive level. Stories speak in images and metaphors, not facts or analysis, so they contain multiple levels of understanding. Each listener's thinking is stimulated at his or her own level, allowing questions and discussion to flow naturally. With stories, much of the guess work in trying to "teach" a religious concept is eliminated. The CLF Loan Library has several collections of short stories for children. Two, by Sophia Lyons Fahs—From Long Ago and Many Lands and Old Tales for a New Day—contain stories from different cultural and religious traditions and address universal concerns of all people, of all ages: life after death, conflict between people, the nature of spirituality. A new collection by Mary Ann Moore, Stories About God, has stories taken from world religions, feminist experience, and science, that give children the opportunity to develop a language with which they can speak about God and express their own thoughts and feelings. "Caring for the soul," writes Rev. Elizabeth Parish, "requires a liter-ary sort of thinking." Whether you are reading aloud to children, your partner or another adult, you are caring for your soul and theirs by dwelling for awhile together where so much of life's mysteries are understood—in the world of imagery and metaphor. As the long summer evenings stretch before you, take advantage of this time to begin a nightly ritual of reading aloud. Visit your library or contact CLF today to borrow a collection of stories to get you started.  CLF Home Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108-2823 Phone: (617) 948-6166 · Fax: (617) 523-4123 · Email: clf@uua.org Address of this page: http://www.uua.org/clf/connections/Parenting/reading.html | |