Reading and Listening

In this blog I am simply assuming the value and importance of reading aloud to your children. One of my goals in reading to my boys (in addition to the main goal of learning) is to develop a love for hearing good reading. So, books on tape or audio dramatizations fit our goals well. My boys love to listen to audio stories while we travel. These are great ways to encourage the art of listening and a love for being read to. Even if we had the chance, we would not take a video option in our automobile because we have already established an enjoyment of listening. One of our favorites is Adventures in Odysey, produced by Focus on the Family. These are nicely done stories, with good adventure and good morals. One could quibble with places, but by and large it is great stuff.
I posted earlier about one of our other favorites, the Chronicles of Narnia .

We have also enjoyed finding books on tape available at Cracker Barrel restaurants. You can purchase the tapes and then return them for a refund of most of your money. The result is that you can essentially rent the tapes for a very reasonable cost. If you return the tapes in a week you pay $3.49. When traveling this past summer we made much use of these and really enjoyed listening to books from the Magic Tree House series, the Boxcar Children series and the Hardy Boys.