Jump to content

Menu

Curious: how much "free" (expected) reading does your primary-school kid do?


Recommended Posts

My kids have a goal of 100 Accelerated Reader points for 2nd grade.  A typical 1st-2nd grade book (including shorter chapter books), or a picture book at a higher reading level, is a half point.  A typical Magic Treehouse / Rainbow Fairies type book is 1 point.  The points are prorated based on the % correct on the comprehension test (but 0 points if less than 60%).  So it ends up that they are generally reading several substantial (for 2nd grade) chapter books plus several shorter books each week.  Not including the books they want to read that don't qualify because they aren't in the AR system, books that were too boring to finish, books AR says are too hard for them (often after the kid already read the book :/)....

 

I dunno, I think it's great that my kids read more than I did at their age, but it seems like a LOT of expected reading.  It takes Miss A hours to get through a Magic Treehouse book.  She isn't a complainer, but I can see her feeling fatigued at times.

 

So I'm curious.  How does this compare to the reading your kids are expected to do around this age?  Not specific to gifted kids, just typical ones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That seems like a LOT of reading at that age. But what do I know. In 1st grade, my son will read the books but "forget" to take the tests. I've given up on trying. Its not necessary to the class and he obviously doesn't care so I'm not going to push it.

 

I hope it isn't required next year in 2nd!

 

(He can read a Magic Treehouse book in one evening, but it takes him several hours so it generally takes two days after school to finish one)

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My third grader probably reads on average an hour a day. I think the school expects 30 minutes 5 days a week from her. I don't really pay attention. She reads with her younger brother and I 30 min/day before bed. She walks around reading. She reads at her siblings' soccer games. She reads on her way to soccer, on her way home from soccer. I think she would have a book in the goal with her if her coach (dad) would allow it. She devours books.

 

My first grader doesn't read nearly as much. Probably 30 min/day by himself, and we read 30 min/day together.

 

I have no idea what their AR goals are. Our school doesn't emphasize it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When my son was reading at a 2nd grade level, he read about 300 books in the course of a year.  The books he read ranged from Little Bear to Henry and Mudge to Magic Tree House.  He was homeschooled at the time, but he did his free reading in the evenings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2nd grade in our public school "assigns" at least 20 minutes day for at least 5 days a week.  Kids have to record book title, pages and Fic or Non-F.  My son reads hour or more a day, but only officially writes down what he read before bed.  He reads a book like Magic Treehouse in 20 minutes or so. 

 

ETA: so far this has been the only homework

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Currently Miss A is trying for 1 MTH book each day Sunday thru Thursday, and when that doesn't happen for whatever reason, we work in some shorter books.

 

She does most of the reading during aftercare, which goes from about 3pm to 6pm.  But often it spills over into the evening, and then it's a challenge to get everything else done.  She has other homework every week.

 

Their reading grade is 25% based on AR.  12.5% on points and 12.5% on comprehension score.  Technically they are not required to do the whole 100 points, but there is a lot of emphasis on it, rewards, recognition, etc., so they really want to meet the goal.  And they can, but it still seems like a lot....

 

This isn't an issue for Miss E, who already met the 100 point goal despite only reporting on a fraction of the reading she's done.  She's not your typical 2nd grader, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son is still in reading remedy program at shcool. I am not sure how much they read at school per day. At home, we will do Dancing Bear C 10 minutes as reading instruction, and one story from I SEE SAM set 6 (about 500-700 words) as his read aloud. In addition, he will also read at least 1 leveled book (I set his level low to start with) with comprehension quiz from Raz-Kid per day but he normally does more than 1 book. I require him read, listen, read again and then take the quiz at last so it will take him about 20 minutes per book. Once a week, he will do 30 minutes guided reading with his reading tutor. Normally they will do 2-3 chapters from MTH or similar leveled chapter books with details discussion for the story settings and problems. Receently they switch to some history story book in order to expand his social study vocabulary. The level of that book is about 3rd grade.

 

He does his own free reading as well and I do not count those in his reading log. Sometimes he reads magzine; sometimes he reads comic books.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We don't have AR, and reading time is only informally rolled into homework expectations. First and second graders are expected to read or be read to for 15-25 minutes per day, which is included in a total of 25-30 minutes of daily homework.

 

My son actually averages about 45 minutes per day that I log on his "reading competition" calendar. I figure I probably miss some, since he often drifts away into a magazine or something when I'm not looking. In October a 30-45 minute average was enough to make him the most prolific reader in the whole first grade. I didn't turn in a calendar from November through January, so we'll see how his February minutes stack up. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think these reading programmes were actually invented by non-readers. They obviously regard reading as a chore not a joy and are determined to make everyone else think that way too. Ds6 has just started second. He is supposed to fill in what he reads Mon to Thurs. Most of the time we don't remember and just guess. We may have to start getting him to read to us at night but I don't want reading to be a fight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I doubt they came up with that nice round 100 using some kind of logical  'average' reader or 'best reading practices' algorithm.  What they probably did was purposefully pick a large number to 'push' the average kids to read more.  And it's working on your DD.   If reading to get points (vs. reading for enjoyment) is seriously affecting life, I would push her to 'game' the system by reading more .5pt short picture books than 1pt chapter books that take hours to read( I recognize that can come with it's own issues - that's why affecting life would really have to play into it). 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How much would you read for pleasure if you had to sit a test or write a report after every book?.

 

I don't know, but I think the AR program gets kids to read more or doesn't affect them.  Bookworms like Miss E are going to read anyway, and the testing is just a minor detail.  Slower / reluctant readers like Miss A wouldn't read enough to discover it's fun, if they weren't given a push.   And all that reading by kids who prefer to chat leads the kids to chat about the books, encouraging more interest.  It's not perfect, but I think it has a net benefit.  But you can have too much of a good thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dd reads about an hour a day. She does not read a chapter book in one day she reads them a chapter or 2 or 3 at the most. If it is something like rainbow magic or secret unicorns she will read more then one and if it is a classic book she reads one chapter. She doesn't finish several chapter books in a week. She typically does a little of a chapter book then tears through several picture books of various difficulty in one night. Her school does reading by pages and doesn't test on the books they read.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My older son spent most of his available time reading when he was in K and 1st grade and when we started homeschooling in second grade we curbed that somewhat.  He plowed through books.  I did not keep track but he was reading several or more Magic School Bus chapter books or A-Z or Boxcar Children type books each day. Sometimes less but with a long non-fiction book instead. 

 

That said this point system with quizzes seems like a fantastic way to strip the fun out of reading.  We just let him read.  We checked comprehension with conversation and left any written quizzes for assigned content books.  I believe that free reading should be free and not conditioned on points and tests. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even if they do 3 1-pt MTH books every week, with an average of 85% comprehension, they will only end up with about 90 points.

 

If they did only one 0.5-pt book per day (which would be easy), there would be no chance of getting the 100 points.

 

I think it would be reasonable to ask for an average of 0.5 points per day for an average reader, which could be spread out if they decided to read longer chapter books.

 

It would be better if they adjusted the goal based on reading ability.

 

Anyhoo, it is do-able, I just think there are better ways to implement the program.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think 3 chapter books (even magic tree house) is too much to be the base level. The base level should be something that can be done by nearly all the kids in 20 mins a day or so. Challenge levels on top of that that are optional seem fair too. Forcing a child to plough through to get the points seems wrong to me.

 

But a lot of school seems wrong right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son is doing AR but without a minimum goal set (he's 5.5 in K). He just hit 50 points last quarter (they get cute little reward and incentives). He gets through the smaller (0.5) point books quickly -- up to 2-3/day at times, we just started the MTH series and it takes him about 1 week to read those (& still read about 1 regular 0.5 book per day). I think the min goal is 50 points for 1st grade level next year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DD is not gifted but is a fast reader. She'll do a fairly substantial book in a week, a day or two if she loves the book. She probably reads two hours a day, although she can beef that up quite a lot when she's taken with something (and she's not in school, so what does she care).

 

I am not sure that I'd go to all the trouble to encourage many Magic Tree House/Rainbow Fairy books. Surely one of those Rainbow Fairy books and you have the idea? Apparently the books she's reading are worth between six and ten points in the AR system, but they'd probably be considered too hard for her . . . and how is that possible if they read it?

 

This is all rather grim, to be perfectly honest.

 

ETA: if she were allowed to read at the level she's reading, I think she'd have knocked off thirty points in five weeks or so:

Penderwicks - 8

Penderwicks on Gardam Street - 10

Mary Poppins - 6

Emily Windsnap - 6

 

So it seems a heck of a lot more do-able if you're able to read the harder books.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DD is not gifted but is a fast reader. She'll do a fairly substantial book in a week, a day or two if she loves the book. She probably reads two hours a day, although she can beef that up quite a lot when she's taken with something (and she's not in school, so what does she care).

 

I am not sure that I'd go to all the trouble to encourage many Magic Tree House/Rainbow Fairy books. Surely one of those Rainbow Fairy books and you have the idea? Apparently the books she's reading are worth between six and ten points in the AR system, but they'd probably be considered too hard for her . . . and how is that possible if they read it?

 

This is all rather grim, to be perfectly honest.

 

ETA: if she were allowed to read at the level she's reading, I think she'd have knocked off thirty points in five weeks or so:

Penderwicks - 8

Penderwicks on Gardam Street - 10

Mary Poppins - 6

Emily Windsnap - 6

 

So it seems a heck of a lot more do-able if you're able to read the harder books.

 

I'm not sure if I am understanding you completely.  But to clarify on my end, my kid is not allowed to test on books above a certain RL range.  Right now Miss A's range only goes up to RL 3.5.  So even though she is capable of reading at a higher level, it would not help with the AR goal.  Plus, if much time passes between the time she reads something and the test, she won't score well on the test.  So I try to time it so there is no more than a couple days from the time she starts a book and the time she tests on it.

 

Not sure if Miss A has actually read any of the Rainbow Magic books yet, but we have some because Miss E was obsessed with them for a while.  She wanted to read every single one of them around the age of 6-6.5.  I'm not even sure Miss A will like them, but if she does, there's no harm in reading them IMO.  As for the MTH books, I don't really see a downside if she likes them and understands them.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I understand that it might be "easy" (reading wise) to just do two short books each day, but there are only so many books of that length/level that are good reading for a 2nd grader.  Most of them are written to younger kids.  And because they often are not written with much of a plot, they are harder to test on, so a 100% average would not be likely.  My math tells me they'd have to find about 225 such books, with no repeats of books tested in prior years.  That doesn't sound fun or easy to me.

 

The other day I checked the AR levels of several very nice picture books we have.  Most of them are above Miss A's 3.5 max reading level.  Even though I am sure she would enjoy them and understand them, she cannot use them for AR points.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also don't want to discourage the reading of age-appropriate chapter books.  I can see it building confidence.

 

I don't have time to go to the library and find 225 books.  We do have many books at home, maybe 100 of which fit the current criteria (and many of which she's already tested on).  But the book needs to be interesting or the information doesn't stick.  I give away the books that are below my kids' maturity level.  Aside from space limitations, I don't feel right forcing them to read babyish books.

 

Besides, I thought the whole idea of AR was to encourage reading that would develop skills.  Not reading that was easy for them a year ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my observation, the more stilted or unnatural the writing, the worse my kids do on the tests.  Including Miss E, who is a very advanced reader.  I don't think it's a skill issue.  And even if they got 100% on all the tests, I still don't think they should be spending time reading stuff that neither interests nor challenges them.  There are better things to do with their time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The idea about reading more short books is purely a 'work around' not a way to 'fix' a broken system (IMO). The point of reading the shorter books is that she could probably read more than 2 in less time than it is taking her to read 1 1pt book (1.5 *85 % > 1 * 85%), thus saving your 'home' time.  There are plenty interesting .5 books at or below your DD's level - but yes, it would mean taking some time to find those.  Is it worth it? It sounds like no for you right now.     Maybe the answer is just setting aside a little reading time before bedtime instead.  

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My first grader is expected to read 20 minutes a day as part if his homework. I don't keep track of how much he reads. Some days he reads for over an hour and we read to him for around 20 minutes before bed. There are somedaysv days he doesn't read at all.

The school where I work has the AR program. Here is a link to a document the AR company published to help schools decide how many points to require. Look on page 6 and you can see someone reading at a mid second grade level would have to read at least 60 minutes a day to meet a goal of 100 points a year.

http://doc.renlearn.com/KMNet/R001438603GC81D6.pdf

Is 100 points the goal for a grade of A? How many points for a grade of C?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...