How much time would you have this child spend reading every day?

[Greta]

My daughter is "old" for a Fourth Grader - turned 10 in October. She has always been what you would call a reluctant reader. She's capable, though it doesn't come easily or naturally to her. She'd rather draw all day.

 

As part of our school work, I read aloud to her, because I think she still needs it. We have one History and one Literature selection going at all times, and I read a chapter of each to her daily.

 

I also have her read aloud to me one chapter from The Story of Rome every day, and she gets to play teacher and ask me questions about it, but just being able to form the questions lets me know she was understanding what she read. http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=macgregor&book=rome&story=_contents

 

She reads silently one section of her So You Really Want to Learn Science book, three times a week, and answers the questions or does the activities that follow the chapter. These are not long sections.

 

I also have her read silently, just for pleasure with no narration or questions, for half an hour every day. Up to this point, I've given her free reign with her choices, because I just wanted to get her reading! But I am now wondering if this is enough time, and/or if I should start selecting some higher quality books for her. She's really into Warriors right now, just to give you an idea of the kind of material she is capable of reading with minimal effort.

 

So, do you think that's enough? Because she is reluctant, and rarely reads for pleasure unless I schedule it or strongly encourage it, I'm thinking she needs a lot of practice. Should I up the time? Increase the quality of the books she's reading? Both? Leave well enough alone?

 

Thanks!

 

ETA: This Warriors thing is pretty new. She only recently got beyond Magic Tree House books (for which I am grateful!!! :D )

Edited February 8, 2010 by GretaLynne

[Greta]

Should I take the lack of replies to mean we're doing enough? :D

[amtmcm]

Hi Greta,

 

I'm in the exact same boat with my 4th grader and we do about the same as you're doing. I read her MOH, she reads science to me, she reads about 20-30 minutes on her own and Dh reads a chapter from a classic (or Newbery winner) at bedtime. That's about all my DD10 can handle right now.

 

I hope to increase her reading each year - so next year she will have more required reading with historical biographies.

 

Hope this helps to validate what you're doing. Or maybe others will chime in with other experiences?

 

Ann

[Susie in CA]

Hi Greta,

 

I'll respond. I think you are doing fine. If your gut tells you to that you need to increase something I would increase intensity at this point not time. What I mean by that is start increasing the reading level of the books she reads during 'free' reading time. This is what I did with my reluctant reader. He is in 5th now and to our surprise actually reads for fun now. Not often. It is enough, though, to see that reading has become fun at last.

 

Here are the steps we went through with ds. Maybe some will help you.

 

1. Just get him to read the book, any book, and not stare into space until the time was up.

 

2. Then we required him to read chapter books, any chapter book, so that he would read and not just look at pictures. This was our Magic Tree House Level. We were at this level in 3rd grade.

 

3. Require him to finish books. He used to not finish any book and then say it was boring. It turned out that he needed to finish them to decide whether they were boring or not. He now likes most books he reads.

 

4. In 5th grade we increased reading time to 45 min. He now reads more than that quite often.

 

He still reads slowly but has excellent comprehension, and he likes to read. I do credit this to two things we did: 1. We let him read very easy books for a long time (3rd grade). 2. We consistantly required silent reading for 30 min. He simply needed the practice without having to narrate or write about it.

 

Things that work to get him started on harder books are:

 

Listening to the first book of a series. If he liked it he will read the rest.

Watching the movie first and then read the book i.e. Harry Potter. This does not work for everyone but is great for him.

Finding books by an author he liked already.

 

I hope something here is helpful to you.

 

Susie

[8filltheheart]

My daughter is "old" for a Fourth Grader - turned 10 in October. She has always been what you would call a reluctant reader. She's capable, though it doesn't come easily or naturally to her. She'd rather draw all day.

 

As part of our school work, I read aloud to her, because I think she still needs it. We have one History and one Literature selection going at all times, and I read a chapter of each to her daily.

 

I also have her read aloud to me one chapter from The Story of Rome every day, and she gets to play teacher and ask me questions about it, but just being able to form the questions lets me know she was understanding what she read. http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=macgregor&book=rome&story=_contents

 

She reads silently one section of her So You Really Want to Learn Science book, three times a week, and answers the questions or does the activities that follow the chapter. These are not long sections.

 

I also have her read silently, just for pleasure with no narration or questions, for half an hour every day. Up to this point, I've given her free reign with her choices, because I just wanted to get her reading! But I am now wondering if this is enough time, and/or if I should start selecting some higher quality books for her. She's really into Warriors right now, just to give you an idea of the kind of material she is capable of reading with minimal effort.

 

So, do you think that's enough? Because she is reluctant, and rarely reads for pleasure unless I schedule it or strongly encourage it, I'm thinking she needs a lot of practice. Should I up the time? Increase the quality of the books she's reading? Both? Leave well enough alone?

 

Thanks!

 

ETA: This Warriors thing is pretty new. She only recently got beyond Magic Tree House books (for which I am grateful!!! :D )

 

My 8th grader was very much the same way in 4th and his load was somewhat similar.

 

Take heart.......he is now an avid reader. He still reads slowly, but he spends hours reading for pleasure.

[Greta]

Hi Greta,

 

I'm in the exact same boat with my 4th grader and we do about the same as you're doing. I read her MOH, she reads science to me, she reads about 20-30 minutes on her own and Dh reads a chapter from a classic (or Newbery winner) at bedtime. That's about all my DD10 can handle right now.

 

I hope to increase her reading each year - so next year she will have more required reading with historical biographies.

 

Hope this helps to validate what you're doing. Or maybe others will chime in with other experiences?

 

Ann

 

My 8th grader was very much the same way in 4th and his load was somewhat similar.

 

Take heart.......he is now an avid reader. He still reads slowly, but he spends hours reading for pleasure.

 

Thank you both for the encouragement and support!

 

1. Just get him to read the book, any book, and not stare into space until the time was up.

 

2. Then we required him to read chapter books, any chapter book, so that he would read and not just look at pictures. This was our Magic Tree House Level. We were at this level in 3rd grade.

 

3. Require him to finish books. He used to not finish any book and then say it was boring. It turned out that he needed to finish them to decide whether they were boring or not. He now likes most books he reads.

 

Wow, Susie, this sounds so much like my dd!

 

4. In 5th grade we increased reading time to 45 min. He now reads more than that quite often.

 

He still reads slowly but has excellent comprehension, and he likes to read. I do credit this to two things we did: 1. We let him read very easy books for a long time (3rd grade). 2. We consistantly required silent reading for 30 min. He simply needed the practice without having to narrate or write about it.

 

Things that work to get him started on harder books are:

 

Listening to the first book of a series. If he liked it he will read the rest.

Watching the movie first and then read the book i.e. Harry Potter. This does not work for everyone but is great for him.

Finding books by an author he liked already.

 

I hope something here is helpful to you.

 

Susie

 

Yes, VERY helpful. Thanks so much!

[brownie]

Somewhat similarly, I will give my kids incentive to read books with a movie by promising the movie after the book is completed...Harry Potter, the Lightning Thief, most classics, etc...

 

I will also assign books to be completed by a certain date but I will often offer a choice of 3 books for the assignment. Other weeks I assign nothing, and still other weeks I will "assign" whatever they are already reading if it is adequately challenging. I walk the line of knowing when and what to push on them, knowing they will end up enjoying it most often and increase their love of reading rather than making it a chore.

 

Finally we listen to MANY books on tape, allowing them to enjoy many books they would never read themselves and I wouldn't have the time to read aloud.

 

Brownie