Reading Recipes

Reading cookbooks and recipes is almost as enjoyable as cooking the recipes. Right now I am reading Maya Angelou's hallelujah! instead of homework. Each recipe section begins with a story from Maya's life. The stories are so good I felt compelled to read aloud to Mark.

I first learned about the significance of reading aloud when Mark and Nicholas were little. In my early years of parenting, I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture with the author of the Read-Aloud Handbook. That hour of two of instruction held sage advice that I still use today. The handbook is a great resource for techniques to encourage and develop the love of reading in children. As a family, we learned to share our passion for reading books, magazines and even short passages by reading aloud to each other. It's important for children to see men reading.

As a couple we read together. Before Jacob came along, I would read aloud to Lee on road trips. The first book we read together was A Portrait of a Marriage.

Cozy up with a hot chocolate and read aloud together.