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I want to start reading bedtime stories to my little guys, OK truth be known, they want me to read bedtime stories. By the time bedtime rolls around, I am ready to call it a day. But they really want it, so... We will be using LHFHG this fall. So, I was wondering if any of the reading in the guide would be good for that or if they all have activities that go along with them? Also, do you and your children have any favorite bedtime stories that you like to read? Thanks!

The storytime books by Thorton Burgess are wonderful for bedtime stories, but there are activities to do with them in the guide that you don't want to miss, so I don't know if you want to do them at bedtime. I suppose it might be possible to do the activities the following day, but it might be more difficult doing it that way. After we finished LHFHG, we continued reading a bunch more of the Thorton Burgess books, in particular Mother West Wind. That was a nice way to have a quick story that allowed us to visit our old friends that we made during LHFHG. Another group of stories that my dh used a lot with my dc was The Jack Tales, Grandfather Tales, and Southern Jack Tales. These have a lot of fun stories that are short and fun for bedtime. Another series that comes to mind are The Fairy Books by Andrew Lang. It retells a lot of the traditional fairy tales from various cultures. There are quite a few of them usually with a color in the name, The Red Fairy Book, The Blue Fairy Book, The Rainbow Fairy book, etc. One other series that we used when my dc were a bit older that we started with HOD and then continued afterwards was The Grandma's Attic series. Those were really nice stories that we enjoyed so much. Of course, you can always start a book and just read a chapter a night. We did that with many books too and enjoyed so many wonderful books like that. Thinking about all those makes me miss reading at bedtime. I guess mine aren't too old for it, but my dh and I just wore out. I'll have to think on that and consider starting it again. We had some great times with these books and stories.

I always just let the kids pick the bedtime stories. However we do sometimes save part of the days reading for bedtime, depending on how the day went.

I feel the same way about wanting to call it a day, but I have to say, now that 4 of my kiddos are grown - those are precious memories of precious times sitting together reading in their room with them all laying around the bed listening to the story (my clown making jokes along the way, my inquisitive one asking questions, my creative ones [sometimes all of them] adding how they would have written that part of the story). If I could do anything now - it would be to have signed up for a few less extracurricular sports to make sure we missed fewer of those bedtime routines. In fact, with my last 2, that is exactly what we have done. We commit to far fewer activities in the evening now - since I run daycare in my home and I am wiped out by the end of the day - and we try to keep our routine consistent. Reading time is so precious. We often work through series at bedtimes, such as "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Little House on the Prairie", or "The Kingdom Series" by Chuck Black. When they were younger, we read many favorite shorter stories, and sometimes a favorite, like "Little Gorilla" by Ruth Bornstein or "The Giving Tree" was read so many times I could read them with my eyes shut (yes...lots of Dr. Seuss too!!)

So...as for me....don't miss that bedtime routine. It gets hard sometimes - especially when you've 'schooled' all day - and you feel like you've read enough for sure. However - looking back - I am thankful I read to them. (Not to mention - it inspired a love of reading in them as well.) And now - I read to my 2 youngest children, my granddaughter, and my daycare kids - and seeing their faces when those stories are read makes all my time worth it! The more I know a story - the more expression I can inflect into the story - and the more the love it. Those are sweet times when we are curled up in one of their beds together or on the couch, without pressure to do school work with what they just learned after hearing the story. Just reading...for the sake of reading. It's priceless and you will cherish it later.

venusmom wrote:I feel the same way about wanting to call it a day, but I have to say, now that 4 of my kiddos are grown - those are precious memories of precious times sitting together reading in their room with them all laying around the bed listening to the story (my clown making jokes along the way, my inquisitive one asking questions, my creative ones [sometimes all of them] adding how they would have written that part of the story). If I could do anything now - it would be to have signed up for a few less extracurricular sports to make sure we missed fewer of those bedtime routines. In fact, with my last 2, that is exactly what we have done. We commit to far fewer activities in the evening now - since I run daycare in my home and I am wiped out by the end of the day - and we try to keep our routine consistent. Reading time is so precious. We often work through series at bedtimes, such as "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Little House on the Prairie", or "The Kingdom Series" by Chuck Black. When they were younger, we read many favorite shorter stories, and sometimes a favorite, like "Little Gorilla" by Ruth Bornstein or "The Giving Tree" was read so many times I could read them with my eyes shut (yes...lots of Dr. Seuss too!!)

So...as for me....don't miss that bedtime routine. It gets hard sometimes - especially when you've 'schooled' all day - and you feel like you've read enough for sure. However - looking back - I am thankful I read to them. (Not to mention - it inspired a love of reading in them as well.) And now - I read to my 2 youngest children, my granddaughter, and my daycare kids - and seeing their faces when those stories are read makes all my time worth it! The more I know a story - the more expression I can inflect into the story - and the more the love it. Those are sweet times when we are curled up in one of their beds together or on the couch, without pressure to do school work with what they just learned after hearing the story. Just reading...for the sake of reading. It's priceless and you will cherish it later.

Thanks for this reminder for us all! I'm realizing that when I have a few minutes to sit down in the afternoon, I need to be willing to read to my little ones just for fun (instead of surfing the web, or some other equally unimportant activity). It's helpful to get your perspective on things. (Of course, I will have more energy in a few months ... The last month or so of pregnancy is not typically a high-energy time!)

Thanks again!

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones is a great bedtime read, and it is a different Bible from the ones used in HOD so that changes things up a bit. I cannot remember, but I think you mentioned you have boys. If not (or even for some others out there), the original Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy stories by Johnny Gruelle are great too. I haven't personally read Milly-Molly-Mandy, but that looks like a good one too (but again, that is probably geared more for girls). And maybe the Boxcar Children (though I'm not sure if that is used in DITHOR or not). Maybe someone else could speak up on that one.

Thanks for the help and encouragement ladies! Imam looking a little more forward to it now!

Just wanted to add that at our house it works fine to read the story at bedtime and then complete the activity in school time the next day. They remember those details sometimes better than I do!