RAR #96: The Lowdown on Reading Aloud to 8 – 12 Year Olds
If there is one thing I hope you take away from this episode – it’s this: keep reading to your 8-12 year olds.
Kids ages 8-12 are so fun to share books with, and you can have such wonderful conversations with this age group. Plus, you are continuing to make memories and associate reading with warm feelings. That’s a total win!
There’s lots more in The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids Through Books about reading with kids ages 8-12 (in fact, that picture for this podcast gives you a hint at some of the other recommendations for this age range in The Read-Aloud Family!), but today…
In this episode, you’ll hear:
- potential pitfalls when reading to 8-12’s
- what to do about “the classics”
- and just a couple of books that I think your 8- to 12-year-olds will love
(pssst… that picture gives you a hint of even more books I love for 8-12’s. They’re all listed with descriptions in The Read-Aloud Family.)
Click the play button below:
Listener Guide
Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast:
- 1:28 ‘A mom-to-mom connection’
- 3:54 Reading with 8- to 12-year-olds
- 6:19 Potential pitfalls
- 9:14 Feel silly reading to big kids?
- 10:15 Introducing the classics
- 11:30 Choosing books
- 13:08 Funny books, heroic books, and more
- 16:22 Heavier content, and talking things out
- 18:45 More Resources for parents of 8-12’s
- 20:04 Let the kids speak
Links from this episode:
- Order The Read-Aloud Family now anywhere books are sold
- Get the audio version of The Read-Aloud Family (read by Sarah Mackenzie) right here
- Use the hashtag #readaloudfamily to share photos on social media
- RAR #94: The Lowdown on Reading Aloud to 0-3 Year Olds
- RAR #95: The Lowdown on Reading Aloud to 4-7 Year Olds
- RAR #64: Helping Resistant Readers Fall in Love with Books, Laura Martin
- RAR #83: Why Read Picture Books with Older Kids?
Books from this episode:
(All links are affiliate links.)
Seeing your book in front of all the Trixie Beldon books brings back memories of reading them. I loved that series. I just found your podcast from another podcast you were on. I’m looking forward to listening/ reading your blog/podcast. I’ve read aloud to my child since birth. But now she’s 12 and has finished Wings of Fire series & Erin Hunter’s cat series. ( we kind of fell out of reading aloud in the last year or so, as she can now read books faster. But now she doesn’t have anything to read, so maybe it’s a good time for me to start it up again.) We;ve read aloud the Junie B jones series, Ramona /henry huggins series. But she’s not interested in regular kids lives anymore. So i’m hoping that thru your podcasts i;ll find books that she may like. I like the idea of introducing her to new genres, and re-introducing picture books. I never thought of that! Can’t wait to listen to your podcast about that!
Just so excited to have found you!!
ps another great book for 7-12 yr olds is ‘i want to go home’ by Gordon Korman It’s a hilariously funny story about 2 boys at summer camp who don’t want to be there and keep trying to escape, with hilarious results.
In one of your podcasts, it was mentioned that TV shows can help bridge the connection to develop readers…have you known of a list where it could take some of the popular shows and match it with a collection of books to consider? I believe this list would be very much appreciated by many parents – let me know either way, thank you!
Amazing lm a fan
Thanks for sharing this and I smiled at your closing comment about reading with your kids is the best way you know how to connect with them because I feel the same exact way. You are such an inspiration to me and my homeschooling routine.
Thank you Sarah, as always, for the encouragement to keep on reading (or listening…we do lots of audio books).
Any recommendations for books for Dads to read to daughters in this age group?
My husband is nearly finished with reading Little Britches stories to our sons and wants a good book to read to our daughter.
Thank you!
Hello,
I’ve been watching some of your older videos. You’ve mentioned 5 question to ask your child about any book on your website but I can’t seem to find them anywhere. How can I get the 5 Questions? Thanks so much
Hi, Jennifer! If you send an email to support@readaloudrevival.com, I’ll be happy to help!