Written by Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy.
I love to read, and so far (knock on wood) we seem to be raising kids who love to read as well. Despite my love of reading actual paper books for myself, to my kids, and with my kids, over the past few years I’ve come to rely heavily on audiobooks in our homeschool.
We have four kids at four different grade levels, and using audiobooks helps preserve my voice (especially during spring allergy season) and my sanity (all the year round) when this introvert needs a break from the noise noise noise noise.
Aside from the obvious convenience factor of audiobooks, they bring a richness and depth to our literary experience that we couldn’t get any other way.
These are our favorite (obvious and not-so-obvious) ways we use audiobooks in our homeschool:
1. Story of the World. We use Susan Wise Bauer’s history curriculum, but the way we used it changed when I discovered the audio recordings. Three of my kids are covering the same Story of the World material right now.
With the audio version, they can listen to it all at the same time; the weaker readers can still learn the material without me having to read out loud.
2. Read-alouds. I read aloud to my kids every day—especially my preschooler—but their interest in good books lasts longer than my voice. Audiobooks let the story continue even when my voice (or my nerves) are shot.
3. Reinforcement. My older kids are starting to read some tough books for their literature classes. We’ve begun using audiobooks to reinforce the content after they’ve read the physical book themselves.
They already know the basic arc of the story, and the audio version—as with any second read-through—solidifies new vocabulary words and gives them a deeper understanding of the material.
4. Bring a story to life. Great audiobook performances make a story leap off the page in a way that isn’t possible with the plain text. Our favorite audiobooks feature gripping narration, authentic accents, singing, even fiddle music.
5. Early readers. My second grader is transitioning from simple books to beefier chapter books. She wants to read independently but she isn’t quite ready. Audiobooks are smoothing her way, serving as her training wheels.
She reads with her eyes while she listens with her ears, and the audiobook fills any gaps in her pronunciation or understanding.
hot tip: put your phone in a bowl or mug with the speakers facing down to amplify the sound
Amazon’s Whispersync for voice makes this especially easy (if you have the right device, sigh).
With their immersion reading feature, you can read and listen simultaneously with real-time highlighting. (If you don’t have the right device, at least Whispersync lets you get great deals on audiobooks.)
6. Fidgety kids. If your student can’t sit still, audiobooks make it possible for them to learn while they’re literally bouncing around the room. Restless kids can knead silly putty or stack legos (or even fold the laundry) while they’re listening to the story.
7. Mom gets to listen, too. I first got interested in audiobooks for my own sake, not my kids’ sake: I love a good story as much as they do! Audiobooks let me enjoy the listening experience with my kids instead of always being the one to provide it.
Note: If you’re a newbie to audiobooks, here’s a beginner’s guide to where to find them, how to listen, and what titles to start with.
Do you use audiobooks in your homeschool? I’d love to hear your favorite tips, tricks, and titles in comments.
Weekend homeschool links
hi there,
I am wondering if you could tell me about any audiobooks that have more than one voice. My kids love different voices throughout the story. Thank you.
Jill
My husband and I create all-original audio stories that have different voices. I don’t know the age of your kiddos but they might enjoy them. They’re mostly for the 2-10 age range.
Our website is http://www.parentswho.com. You can get two free stories there if you want.
Sorry if this comes off sales-y – I just got so excited when I saw this post because this is our business and our passion. Hope this helps!
Sarah Wehkamp’s latest post: Sarah’s Spring Round-Up
Sarah, I’m glad you posted! I am really interested in using audio books more often, but my son is too young (not yet 3) to enjoy Sparkle Stories, which I love and want to use when he’s older. Thanks for the link to your business, it looks perfect!
I wish there was an easy way to search for this! Off the top of my head: Wonder, Redwall, and BBC productions of classics like Narnia, The Hobbit, and Shakespeare.
I hated the main character’s voice in Wonder. It made me wish I had read the book instead. I would recommend Ender’s Game, though.
I started using SOTW’s audio recordings, too. He really likes it! I want to expand to other stories, but I haven’t taken the leap yet. We tried some ‘books on tape’ a couple of years ago, but that’s it. I keep meaning to get a recording of Winnie the Pooh (I think there’s a highly recommended version?) but maybe I should start with a different book. Thanks for the Whispersync tip. I had no idea about following along like that.
Anne’s latest post: What I’ve Been Reading (Quick Lit – March 2015)
Look for the Winnie the Pooh performed by Peter Dennis—I suspect that’s the one you’re thinking of. 🙂
I just discovered that Jim Weiss’s for-kids abridged stories are all on Amazon’s digital distribution. I grabbed my favorites from when I was a kid–Sherlock Holmes, Arabian Nights, and Spooky Classics–and took them on a long car trip. Even my husband enjoyed them. Jim does all the voices, and he’s just wonderful to listen to. Plus each story is finished in about 20 minutes, so they’re great for younger kids who can’t sit still so long.
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Yes! They’re on Spotify too. 🙂
They are on Spotify?? Well, that is a game changer.
We love audiobooks too! I have four school age kiddos this year and two 4 and under. So sometimes audiobooks are the only way to satiate our appetites for good books!
Angela Awald’s latest post: How To Create a Well-Rounded Book List for Any Topic
Our son is an auditory learner & we would check out the audio book along with a library book. Hearing it while he read really improved his reading comprehension. For books that we couldn’t find an audio book to go with it, he would read aloud so that he was hearing what he read.
Love this! We feel the exact same way. We believe in stories and storytelling and literature so much in fact that we actually have a business creating high-quality children’s audio stories!
My husband Chris is a voice actor and I was an elementary bilingual teacher before having our boys, so we combined our skills to create original audio stories that can keep little ones engaged and using their imaginations.
You can get two free samples on our website http://www.parentswho.com.
We also listen to Sparkle Stories and sometimes books on CD that we get from the library.
Thanks for the post – so cool to know that there are like-minded people out there!
Sarah Wehkamp’s latest post: Sarah’s Spring Round-Up
I usually stick my phone in a corner to amplify the sound but hadn’t thought to use a mug—thanks for that tip!
Mandi’s latest post: How self-care makes me {and you} a better mom
I am currently working my way through the Iliad, and after struggling a bit, the best approach I’ve found is to listen to the audiobook WHILE physically reading the text. I’m carried along by the power of the performance, but can underline or take notes, and it’s just easier to keep track of names, etc. This might be a good approach for older students with challenging texts.
I love your idea of using audiobooks for added richness as a child goes through a book a second time! What a great way to encourage a child to linger over a great book. My favorite way to use audiobooks is to put one on while we eat lunch. After a whole morning spent talking and teaching, it’s nice to be able to zone out and just listen.
We love audiobooks. Fiction, non fiction, classics and modern. Sometimes as a way to reread a beloved book, or sometimes before. They saved my sanity with the Harry Potter series – some of those spell words were beyond my enjoyable-to-read-out-loud limit! And I love them more than my kiddies. Some you can listen to on YouTube. Anne Of Green a Gables and Rebecca of Sunnybrooke farm are two we’ve recently listened to that come to mind.
We have always used audio books in the car, but now I see many uses for them in the home as well – great ideas!
Julie’s latest post: In The Afternoon
I love the audio books for use in the car as well. With traffic we get to car school some. : ) Apologia is starting to sell their elementary science books as audio books as well. We used the audio book for the flying creatures book.
We are HUGE audiobook fans over here, for many of the reasons you list. We love books, we love a little quiet time with a book, and I think it’s a great way to learn when mom and dad are occupied- either helping other kids or at work, etc. Thanks for this post!
Cait Fitz @ My Little Poppies’s latest post: On Motherhood
I agree 100% with all the audio book lovers above. Just one addition to the suggestions would be a nifty streaming audio book app called Tales2Go. It’s a subscription, but for less then $10 a month, you can listen 24/7. My sons listen to it at least 7+ hours a week; we’ve cross referenced it with summer reading lists for family road trips, etc. It streams through your iPhone (and other devices … ) and I play it on our car speakers. I think you can try it for free for a month or so …