The Layers of Learning Podcast with Karen and Michelle is here to help you get your whole family learning together in your homeschool. We are the sisters behind Layers of Learning. We love getting together to chat about homeschooling and this podcast is just a series of our chats. We’re inviting you to listen in on our conversations.

We both have big families, but we teach almost all of our school subjects to everyone at once, and we want to help you find the joy in that too, so we talk a lot about family homeschooling. To see all of our episodes, visit our Layers of Learning Podcast Page. Join us as we explore how to have a happy, hands-on, family-style homeschool.

Raising Readers

If your goal is to raise kids who love to read, listen in! Michelle and Karen were raised to love reading and its something we are passing along to our children. Reading is not a “school subject” in our homes; it’s a happy way of life. There aren’t tests or checklists or reading comprehension completed in our homeschools, and yet, all of our kids love to read because of a few simple things we’ve done to create a reading culture.

Karen and Michelle have ten kids between them, many of them with dyslexia and other reading hurdles. Despite that, creating a joyful reading culture has helped us raise readers. Listen in to hear how our amazing Mom instilled the love of stories in us as children and how we are passing it on to our own kids.

Here Are A Few Topics You’ll Hear About In This Podcast:

• Reading aloud with all of your kids together
• Creating celebratory moments to help reading feel joyful
• Small tips to help kids have a reading attention span
• Library outings
• Choosing books to help your kids fall in love with reading – these are generally high-interest chapter books that are intended for middle grades ages
• Continuing to read aloud long after your kids are independently reading
• 30 minutes of independent reading time during the school day – use a timer!
• Choosing books that are at or below their reading level
• Reading IN FRONT of your kids – read whatever interests you, not just what you’re “expected” to read
• Designate a bedtime and a separate lights out time that leaves a bit of time for reading before bed
• Listening to audiobooks
• Never use books as a punishment
• Give books as gifts
• Choose nonfiction books that are high-interest and written by passionate authors
• Always read the book BEFORE you watch the movie if there’s a movie version
• Keep a lot of books available and accessible
• Keep a reading record of every single book you’ve ever read

Click the Play button to hear the podcast, then subscribe below!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Email | RSS | More