Why reading aloud is just as important for older kids - A ReadItTorial

Now the long summer holidays are officially over, it's time to get back into the usual humdrum  routine of life that takes over when Charlotte goes back to school, and both my wife and I go back to work with none of those lovely days off in between to spend with our daughter.

One thing we both noticed over the summer holidays was how much time we had in the day for lots of different things we normally get no time for (including, of course, a LOT of reading,  baking or crafting, lazing around in a sunny fields drawing or going out for the day to somewhere different and interesting).

The other thing we noticed over the summer was how the usual evening bedtime book ritual went straight out of the window, as Charlotte would inevitably go to bed later (with no school to get up for) and be too tired (or it would be too late) for a book.

This is pretty unusual for us, normally both my wife and I stick to the bedtime routine no matter what - but in the summer months it becomes nigh on impossible even with the best double glazing in the world, and the best blackout blinds to shut out the summer while other kids are out playing and making a racket (hence the later bedtimes).

Now and again I would sneak a book in, because I started to worry that this was the beginning of the end for our read-aloud sessions, and the very thought of that made me completely paranoid that this was in some way signalling a move into the "Terrible Tweens" when your lovely 9 year old transforms almost overnight into a stroppy tantrum-fuelled pre-teen with none of their usual interests in stuff like books.

Thankfully my fears seemed to be unfounded. Whatever book I chose for bedtime (picture book or a chapter or two of proper middle grade chapter book stuff) seemed to still be well received, though of course kids are the past-masters at procrastination, particularly when the alternative to a bedtime book is bedtime and sleeptime itself.

Reading aloud to older kids isn't easy at all, in fact if you can get through an entire story without at least two or three questions or sighs of "Oh that's ridiculous" then you're very lucky indeed, but it was really important to once again get that interaction and bonding time back over a good book.

It also gave us more time to catch up on the review pile. Quite often now in the course of reviewing books we are reading separately, then discussing the book's merits or shortcomings before the review is written. This is a real change from the old days when we'd sit down with the reading pile, work through them and start making written or mental notes as each one was completed.

Reading a bedtime book regularly again also seems to help offer something of a calming influence over Charlotte, particularly on days where she's been hyperactive or difficult, stroppy or just plain unwilling to do anything other than vegetate over screen time (which again is extremely difficult to be strict about in the school hols when you've just about done everything you can think of doing, have spent a small fortune doing it but know that screen time might just offer up a few moments peace if nothing else - hate that though!) Yes, amazing as it seems, no child is perfect and as 9 years old turns into 10, I can only see there being more of a clash of opinions over just about everything. All part and parcel of the parenting process though and I'm sure it's something that many of you have already been through yourselves.

It had me thinking that there ultimately may well come a day when Charlotte really doesn't want bedtime books any more and as time passes, it feels like kids may reach that age younger and younger every year.

I don't know many friends or relatives who have bothered carrying on reading to their kids beyond 6 or 7 years old and that just seems way too young to cut it out. I think it speaks more of the fact that parents are desperate to claw back 'me time' in the evenings after a long day at work, rather than a reluctance on the part of their children to be read to at bedtimes though.

Would love to hear from other book folk, parents and story fans who love a read aloud session at bedtimes on whether they've also reached any of the same conclusions with their own kids.