Reading Out Loud

I just read this interesting op-ed from The New York Times about the importance of that lost art of reading out loud. VERLYN KLINKENBORG, who wrote it, concentrates on adults.

The problem begins much younger. Parents prop their kids in front of the TV or DVD, rather than holding them close and reading books. It's like propping the baby with a bottle rather than holding him/her.

With smaller families, and parents trying to give "total" attention to each child, elder siblings don't learn the art of read out loud to the younger ones. I'm happy to see my pre-school granddaughters "reading" books to their toddler brother. And last week he took a book and "read" to me.

When we read out loud we can't skim and skip words, lines and paragraphs. According to Jewish Law, we're supposed to move our lips as we pray. We're not supposed to read the prayers to ourselves.

Have a good week.