Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Wonder World of Audiobooks

     When Elisha was 4 years old, someone I met at a library told me how articulate Elisha was. A few months ago, at a church we were visiting in West Virginia, her Sunday school teacher told me how rich Elisha's vocabulary is. I believe her clear articulation and rich vocabulary come from listening to hundreds of audio books over the years.

     English is not my mother tongue. Before Elisha was born, I read the biography of Condoleezza Rice, former US Secretary of State. One of the things that impressed me was her parents' emphasis on speaking proper English. I wanted Elisha to speak good English.

     From the day she came home after birth, Elisha and I spent many hours of our awake time listening to audio books. Mostly, in the beginning, they were for me. I wanted to do something productive while nursing Elisha or rocking her to sleep. However, as she got older, CJ and I downloaded children's audio books to a small tablet and let them play throughout the day. Elisha is 7 years old now, and even now, the first thing she does in the morning is to turn on her audio books.

Some of the benefits of audio books are:
- they stimulate and improve aural memory
- they improve a child's ability to pay attention to spoken messages
- when started early, they help a child to develop good pronunciation thanks to young children's tendency to copy and repeat whatever they hear (parrot stage)
- they are flexible: children can listen to audio books anywhere, anytime
- they pair well with quiet play times: Elisha listens to them while playing with Legos, during bath, while coloring, etc.
- unlike visual entertainment such as videos/movies, audio books stimulate imagination and creativity

Free audio books:
- our favorite ones are Librivox & Overdrive
- BOOKRIOT lists 11 websites to find free audio books



Everyday is a Miracle

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Classical Music Appreciation for Homeschool

     I haven't really learned anything about classical music, and I really had no clue how to introduce classical music to Elisha. I would turn on classical music station on a radio, but Elisha didn't seem to be very interested in it. Before starting piano and violin lessons, I wanted her to be 'drawn' to classical music.
     After a long search, I found Classical Kids CD Collection. It introduces classical music weaved into fun, engaging stories and that is exactly what Elisha needed. This girl who spends every minute of her alone time listening to audio books just fell in love with these CDs. Listening to Vivaldi, Elisha was persuaded to learn how to play violin. Listening to Mozart, she became interested in opera.
     It's been over a year since we first got the CDs, and even now we enjoy listening to them. Without twisting her arms nor stretching myself too thin, classical music entered into our home so very naturally.

Everyday is a Miracle