101 Reasons You Need Audio Books in Your Homeschool
“Alexa, play Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone from my Audible library.” My eight year old daughter grabs her portable easel, some felt tip pens, and her sketchbook and settles into a pile of pillows on the family room floor to listen to our current audio book. The other kids grab logic games, sewing, or another type of fidget toy and spread out to listen as well.
Audio books, and an Audible subscription, have enriched our homeschool and can be amazing for yours, too.
Not sure?
Don’t worry, I’ve made a list to convince you…
101 Reasons You Need Audio Books in Your Homeschool
Audio books help to develop communication skills by helping children learn the rhythm and cadence of spoken language.
Audio books take kids on adventures as they listen to stories far above their own reading level.
Kids can build their imaginations while envisioning what’s happening in the stories they are listening to.
Children are able to take charge of their own learning through audio books, freeing mom up to focus on other tasks.
Listening to a variety of great narrators helps children develop a love of reading.
Audio books boost confidence in reluctant readers.
Audio books allow parents to enjoy the experience along with their kids (while saving their voices).
Audio can reinforce reading skills when a child hears the book read back to them.
Musical interludes in audio books help set the stage for mental imagery of the story.
Many curriculums offer books on audio, allowing more independent learning — even amongst less independent readers.
Fidgety kids listen on the go, so they don’t have to sit still for whole stories.
Audio books can allow slower readers to get through material more quickly than if they read it themselves.
Audio books help develop listening skills.
Many audio books are dramatic readings that keep kids actively entertained in new stories.
Listening to audio books help kids develop writing skills because their brains are absorbing nuances in the language they are hearing.
Audio books are both entertaining and educational.
Great narration brings stories to life.
Audio books are great for busy homeschooling moms — keep up with your own reading and listen while making dinner or doing dishes.
They allow you and your kids a chance to something new every day — just by listening.
Need to get healthy this year? Listen to inspiring audio books while exercising!
Long drives become learning opportunities with an audio book in the car.
For homes that are short on space, audio books make it easy to have an extensive library without a lot of clutter.
Audio books can be a great escape for mom when she just needs a little “me time.”
Dad can get in on the action and listen to a book on the drive home from work or while taking the kids to practice.
If your child is an auditory learner, audio books can capture his or her attention far longer than a print book, helping him or her retain more of what is in the content.
If your child is an auditory learner, he or she is less likely to daydream and lose his or her place while listening to an audio book.
If your child is a visual learner and used to reading an audio book can help build different types of connections in his or her brain.
Books that a child isn’t as engaged in can be way more fun to listen to when different voices are involved.
Books that contain a lot of dialog are easier to follow along with when there are several voices narrating.
Listening to an audio book about food or cooking can inspire you to try new things in the kitchen.
Audio books can help you build shared experiences in the car, instead of having everyone plugged into their own mobile devices.
Audio books can be helpful at bedtime to soothe little ones to sleep.
If your kiddo has a favorite actor, you can try looking for an audio book read by that person. It may help introduce him or her to new genres.
Audio books are great for parents who want to read aloud but dislike the sound of their own voices.
Listening to an audio book set in a foreign country can help children get a feel for the language and accents there if the narration is done well.
Audio books can help kids pick up emotional cues from voice inflections.
Listening to audio while following along is a great strategy for helping kids with dyslexia or other reading struggles succeed.
Audio books are great for sick days!
A fun audio book can be used as a family reward for good behavior or a job well done.
Audio books can be a temporary guilt-free babysitter for a busy mom who just needs a hot cup of coffee.
Audio books are a super-easy, no-prep family activity.
Introverts — parents and kids — can use audio books and earbuds as an escape from the noise of a household (and homeschool) for a little while.
The written word is often easier to understand after hearing it.
Listening to audio books can sometimes make it easier to pull out story elements, like story arc, which can often be difficult to understand while reading silently.
Some audio books are read in the tradition of radio theater, and can engage even the most reluctant listener.
Older kids can follow along in a paper or Kindle copy to help them further develop their reading skills.
You can use Audible to order Great Courses and learn about amazing topics alongside your kids, from science and math to philosophy, economics and even professional development. The courses are less expensive with an Audible membership… *Get a FREE month of Audible and a FREE book download at audibletrial.com/RaisingLifelongLearners*
Immersion is one of the best methods for teaching a foreign language. With Audible foreign language books you can immerse your whole family in either Spanish, Chinese, or another the kids want to learn.
If families share an Amazon account, multiple family members can listen to the same books on different devices through Audible.
Think outside the bookstore (or Amazon cart) — Your library likely has hundreds of audio books you can check out on CD.
Many libraries have audio books available through online services like Overdrive or OneClickdigital — talk to your librarian the next time you’re in there.
If you are looking for classic audiobooks, Librivox is a good, free option to look into.
Audio book time is a great time for kids and adults to try new hobbies like knitting, crocheting, drawing, and doing puzzles together.
It’s easy to snuggle a lap full of kids when you’re listening to audio books together.
Audio books build readers as kids progress from picture books to chapter books and beyond.
It can be easier to memorize a poem or speech when you are able to listen to it over and over again — audio books are perfect for this.
Read alouds are fun for kids of ALL ages.
When they are older, your kids will have fond memories of the stories you shared together.
There are so many amazing audio books to choose from — classics, contemporary, abridged, unabridged — you name it, and you can probably find it.
Listening to books together give families great opportunities to discuss tough concepts.
Audio books are great for those homeschool seasons when you’re on the go more than usual — a great way to sneak in some stealth learning.
Audio books can be wonderful screen-free options for families on the weekends.
Another benefit for the introverts among us (me included) — pop in the earbuds and turn on an audio book and you can be a wallflower while you’re waiting for your kids to finish a class or rehearsal.
At $14.99 per month, Audible is an inexpensive way to collect more expensive titles. (Don’t forget to grab your free book and month at audibletrial.com/raisinglifelonglearners!)
You can listen to great books anytime and anywhere when you have a library of audio books on your phone or tablet.
If you ever want to cancel your Audible subscription, you keep the books you bought in your Amazon listening library.
Audible has audiobooks for every interest, age, and passion — and there are always great deals that you don’t need a subscription for!
You’ll can find great, classic, books for ages from 0 to 100 on the Audible All Categories page.
Digital audio books last longer than audio books on tape or CD.
With some apps, like Audible, you can listen across devices and it will start where you left off.
Audio books are great for long drives like the cross-country road trip we took last summer.
Audio books about a particular area of the country can add excitement before an upcoming vacation.
Some stories, like The Hobbit, contain songs. Listening to songs in an audio book help bring the story to life.
Some stories, like Dr. Seuss’s iconic books, contain a lot of really silly words that might be difficult for young readers to pronounce.
Audio books can correct our long-held misconceptions about how a character’s name is pronounced. (Don Quixote… anyone?)
Audio books are a miracle for parents who love stories, see the benefits to reading aloud, but simply hate doing it.
Many college textbooks can be found on audio and can enrich your kids’ learning.
Amazon has a list called The Audible Essentials — a list of 100 absolute must-listens, as ranked by Amazon experts.
Audible has more than just books — you can listen to your favorite newspapers and magazines.
Explore art history with audio books about great artists.
Dive deeply into the lives of historic figures by listening to their biographies.
Listening to audio books helps kids comprehend stories better because the narrator often changes his or her inflections — acting out the story.
Nuances like sarcasm are much more easily understood in audio books than in print books.
It can be a great learning experience to compare books read by actors of different backgrounds and with different accents — British English vs. American English, for example.
For young kids especially, listening comprehension far exceeds reading comprehension.
Listening to audio books helps with vocabulary. More words listened to in context = more words learned.
Sometimes it’s tough to fit read alouds in, but think about how many books you and your kids would “read” in a year if you play an audio book every time you do chores, drive somewhere, or go for a hike.
There are some amazing audio book narrators like Jim Dale (Harry Potter), Anne Hathaway (Princess Diaries), and Nathaniel Parker (Artemis Fowl).
You hear every little detail in audio book (sometimes when we read we skip sections).
You can listen when you can’t see — a great option for readers with poor eyesight or eyestrain.
Kids can listen to audio books at night through their earbuds without waking anybody else in the room — perfect for those gifted brains that don’t shut down.
Audio books can be great for snuggle up on the couch and cuddle days when you don’t want to turn on a movie.
There are great opportunities to pair audio books and movies together — we listened to Wonder on Audible (because I knew I’d cry my way through reading it) and then went to see the movie!
Audio books are perfect for large families where there are several different reading abilities — everyone can enjoy the same story together.
It’s nice to sit back and enjoy the classics with your children — and not trip over antiquated language while reading aloud.
Audio books teach kids to listen carefully, helping to develop critical thinking skills.
When parents and kids listen to stories together, they can have big, juicy discussions like the ones talked about in Brave Writer.
Many audio books — like The Fighting Ground by Avi — contain interviews with the author after the story for additional learning.
Audio books ease the frustration struggling readers feel, helping to make stories accessible to them, thereby increasing their confidence.
For struggling readers, audio books are a key to unlocking the magical world of stories so they can experience getting lost in a good book just like their friends and family.
They’re simply a lot of fun.
Still not convinced? Don’t forget that Audible trial — one month and one book totally free. You can choose a book you’ve been dying to read to your kiddos, and test it out without any worries. May I suggest A Wrinkle in Time so you’re ready when the movie comes out?