One of my secret weapons in homeschooling, and by secret weapons, I just mean one of the most

useful tools in all of my homeschooling years is quiet reading time. I did quiet reading time

through all of my oldest three kids is homeschooling. They're all in college, actually. The oldest one just graduated with a

master's degree from a university in Scotland, so that's fun. I'm still doing it with my younger three.

And a lot of you know that while I was in the throes of homeschooling, the oldest three, those

younger three were babies. And it was a little insane. It didn't look at all

like a conventional school day at our house because there was not enough of me to go around.

My homeschool, let's just say, didn't look impressive. But those kids have fared really well,

and much to my delight, they're all readers. And one of the tools that I

used in homeschooling and I continue to use has made a bigger difference in their becoming readers

than anything else. And that something is quiet reading time. It isn't always quiet,

and it's not always reading as you're thinking

about reading. So let's dive in.

Welcome to the Read Aloud Revival. I'm Sarah McKinsey, and this is the show that helps you make meaningful and lasting connections with your kids through books.

Okay, quiet reading time. Simple definition, it's a time of day when everyone reads. When I was in school, we had something like this when I was growing up, and they called it SSR,

silent, sustained reading, I think is what it stood for.

You might also know it as dear, drop everything and read, just a little nod to Beverly

Cleary in the Ramona Quimby books.

But as I mentioned in the intro, it isn't always quiet, and it's not always reading in the

traditional sense. It's also super simple, incredibly effective, and it was and continues to be

my kid's favorite part of the school day. In this episode,

I'm going to explain what quiet reading time is and what it isn't, the benefits that it offers

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