This week we are excited to launch our How We Read series, where we talk with Cathy Balfanz. Cathy is a mother of four, has moved all around with her husband’s military career and with those moves has had the opportunity to try out all sorts of learning experiences and opportunities with her kids. Her children are in the pre-teen/teenage years now, and Cathy shares her knowledge and insight into what reading and a love of books looks like in older children in her home.

Listen to our interview with Cyndi Giorgis, of the Read Aloud Handbook

In How We Read with Cathy Balfanz we talk about:

1.The Balfanz family moves around - a lot. This means Cathy has had the opportunity to experience many different school systems, including a 2-year stint homeschooling her children.

1. With all of their moving and experience living in many different places, Cathy and her kids have encountered all different kinds of school systems and even did a 2-year stint of homeschooling. During those years, Cathy chose a literature-based curriculum and developed a new perspective an even deeper appreciation for the many ways to use literature in their lives. Even though her kids are in public schools now, they still use the skills and habits of using literature in all aspects of learning at home with them now..

2. Like many of us, Cathy loves The Read Aloud Handbook, and we were very interested to hear what reading aloud can look like as kids reach preteen and teenage years. She admits that it is not as straight-forward as it is when kids are younger, but even though it looks different, those bonding, reading aloud together experiences can still happen! Sometimes she just reads the first few chapters of a book together with her older daughters and then they take it from there. Sometimes they listen to an audiobook together. And sometimes she still even reads picture books with them! There is no limit to those amazing picture books out there, so grab one and read it with your teenager!

3. Another way Cathy incorporates books into all aspects of her family life is to keep books out in the house. She keeps “book baskets” in the main living areas that Cathy keeps stocked with books. She rotatest them, choosing a range of reading levels and subjects- ones that go along with the time of year, or holidays or about things her kids are particularly interested in. This keeps books in the forefront and it also keeps her teenagers exposed to those precious picture books even as they get older.

5. We chat about our feelings about audiobooks and, although a bit apprehensive at first, Cathy has learned the great value of audiobooks. They are a wonderful way to enjoy a book as a family, turning a simple car ride to the grocery store into a bonding experience! While it shouldn’t replace reading together with your kids, it is a great way to get more literature into your lives!

6. One thing Cathy has noticed as her children have gotten older is how reading, and the quality of books her kids are reading, has affected their writing and even speaking vocabulary levels.

7. One last thing that Cathy has learned in her journey of navigating the world of books with teenagers so far is that not all Young Adult books are created equal. She listened to an episode of Sarah Mackenzie’s Read Aloud Revival podcast where she heard the advice that Young Adult is a genre, not a reading level, which really struck a chord with her. She has definitely learned that for herself as she helps her teenagers find new books to read and she recommends spending some time and effort researching good books that will interest our kids. There are a lot of great resources and book lists out there to give you a start, many of which we will link to below.