"free reading" time?

[texasmama]

Pipe up if you have a daily (or regular) free reading time for your elementary aged kids, please. My view of this would be a time set aside for the kids to read on their own, in addition to any curriculum-assigned reading (we use SL), read alouds done by mom and other language arts.

 

If you do this, do you let the kids choose anything to read or give them a preapproved selection of "good" books that have some sort of educationally redeeming qualities? How long does your free reading time last? Anything else you'd like to add is great, too.

 

I'm trying to plan for next year and wanting to know what others do. :)

[Dmmetler]

I have an hour "quiet time" block in the afternoon which is reserved for reading or sleep, and my DD can keep her light on after bedtime to read another hour (or more...but usually she doesn't make it even that long). She can read anything she wants, but in practice, I'm the one making the book selections on what comes in anyway.

[RootAnn]

My fluent reader (dd8) has 30 minutes of "assigned free" reading time after her math/grammar/poem/reading comprehension/spelling is done in the morning. She can read anything she wants although I ask her to look through my 'history stack' of books first. I lightly screen anything she picks up at the library, so nothing is completely trash. She is allowed to read "fluff" books during this time if she likes. (She also reads 30+ minutes at night stuff of her own choosing.)

 

My still-learning-to-read child doesn't have this yet. She "looks" at books all the time. Sometimes she "reads" them aloud to the youngers. (She's simply remembering the story and telling it along with turning the pages.)

[ahousefullofjs]

I have an hour "quiet time" block in the afternoon which is reserved for reading or sleep, and my DD can keep her light on after bedtime to read another hour (or more...but usually she doesn't make it even that long). She can read anything she wants, but in practice, I'm the one making the book selections on what comes in anyway.

 

:iagree:We do this too. We have a mandatory "quiet time" from 12:30-2:00 everyday. Everyone is in their own place (ie. 10yo in living room, 8yo in family room, 6yo in boy bedroom) that way my little girls can have their naps undisturbed and I get my own peace and quiet :001_smile:. The olders are required to read during that entire time (they actually enjoy reading) they may choose a book from the bookshelf or library books (all of which have been pre-approved by me). 6yo sometimes falls asleep for a short nap, sometimes does dot-to-dot, handwriting practice, coloring, or quiet play.

Then everyone (especially mom :D) is refreshed and ready for the rest of the day.

No independent reading at night here though. Our family read-aloud time is followed by "lights-out" at 8 or 8:30.

Edited March 28, 2010 by ahousefullofjs

[Pam B]

I have my three kids (almost 14, 12 and 11), read for 1 hour at least EVERY night, right before bed. It helps calm them down and also gets their free reading in. :)

 

I heard once you have them read for 10 minutes per grade your child is in. So, a first grader would read for 10 minutes daily, while a 4th grader would read for 40 minutes daily.

 

I do not follow this for their total daily reading. They all do structured reading and assigned reading as well. I just liked the idea for a starting point. Half way through the year, on my youngest I moved it from 50 minutes to 55 minutes.

 

After they hit the one hour mark, I just let it be their choice. But the minimum for any child (in our house) at the 6th grade or above reads for at least one hour.

 

HTH,

[Mrs Mungo]

My kids do required reading during their school day, I pick what they read at those times.

 

They have free reading for an hour before bed. They can read whatever they want, even Calvin and Hobbes or the Pride and Prejudice graphic novel. ;)

[Guest]

It has been hard to get my daughter away from books or books on CD or requests to be read to, to fit in anything else! She has always chosen from whatever was in the house, then in the library, and now in the bookstore; I don't think I would have been this hands-off if she had chosen really awful stuff, but she never has.

[AngieW in Texas]

I have required free reading only for my youngest. My two older girls read 2-4 hours every day anyway, so I didn't see any need to assign free reading time for them. My youngest is dyslexic. Reading has always been a chore for her. She has 30 minutes of free reading every day along with 30 minutes of assigned reading every day. She doesn't do a whole lot of reading outside of that time.

 

She has become completely obsessed with the Warriors series. She did all of Tuesday's schoolwork on Monday so she could devote Tuesday to reading the newest book that came out that day. She finished it in about 4 hours.

[Pam B]

Oh! Also, for the free reading part of their day, yes, they do get to choose the book. It's their time to be incharrge fully.

[In2why]

Reading every night before bed just evolved. He must be quiet and there wasn't anything else to do lol....so he reads. He can read anything he wants or not read at all and just sleep.

I think that if there are good books, the family reads, and the TV is off a child will learn to love to read. That is my goal for the kids. I try to make sure that fun reading and assigned reading are not in the same time frames and don't feel forced. I would hate for reading to feel like a chore or something to resent.

[applesing]

We have a "book basket" time during our school day. Each child has 30 minutes to read and look at a basket of library books relating to our history, science, math, language arts and music studies. The kids can choose whatever books they like out of this basket. This is part of our MFW curriculum plan, and the books are from their book list. After a set of books is in the basket for the week, I let the kids go through and choose which books they might like to keep up in their rooms for a few more weeks. They usually choose several books that they'd like to look at again. The others go back to the library that week.

 

We also have a "quiet time" that lasts between 1 & 1.5 hours on the afternoons that we are at home. During this time, each child is in his/her own room, and they may choose whether to read, knit, draw or play quietly. My children often choose to read during this time. They can choose any book they like.

 

As a family, we often read our science and history lessons during lunch, and we almost always read from a chapter book for 30 minutes before bedtime. Sometimes we will also let the kids have free reading time before "lights out."

[Homemama2]

My ds7 has 30-45min per school day of 'silent reading' (this is in addition to his reading w/ Abeka). He started the year hating to read...now he really enjoys it although he doesn't generally pick up a book except at silent reading :tongue_smilie:. I started off this year letting him pick a book or two, and then I'd pick one. I picked ones that I thought he'd really like, but were a little more challenging than the ones he would choose on his own. The book he is reading now is Little House in the Big Woods (one of my picks)...it's one of his favorite books and he's been so excited to read it on his own.

[Laurel]

We have daily quiet time from 1-2. M usually spends the time reading, or sometimes writing letters or drawing. She reads so much that I don't feel the need to enforce x amount of time. She can read whatever she wants, but as I'm the one who has purchased all our books, I obviously chose only books that I felt had some redeeming value. (There are definitely some easier reading books - like Magic Tree House when she was younger or Nancy Drew now, because I think everyone should be allowed some brain candy - but for the most part, she chooses good books, some that are even at the upper range of her reading level, because she likes the story.)

[lotsofpumpkins]

My dd does all of her free reading at bedtime. She reads completely different books from what we use for school. I pre-read books that I'm not familiar with to make sure I approve of them. We usually try to get everyone to bed at around 8 pm (though some nights it's later), and at that time dd gets to go read in my bed (since she shares a room with the toddler, who needs to go to sleep and not stay awake for reading time!). So far I don't let the boys stay up and read. We tried it, but they ended up jumping on the beds and playing. I told my 6 year old ds that when he turns 7 we'll let him start staying up to read too. I do need to encourage him to do more free reading during the day, but I do see him trying to read books on his own from time to time. He is usually just ready to play by the time his assigned phonics and reading are done though!

[myfunnybunch]

We have three reading times.

 

Morning reading time: Each person chooses a book they want to read silently. We snuggle on the couch and read for 15-20 minutes to start our school day.

 

Afternoon reading/quiet time: I read to the boys while they build with blocks or draw or snuggle with me. After read-aloud time, they each take their free reading book (usually chosen by the child from a stack of books I've selected) and read in a quiet spot. I rotate between kids. First, I read with my beginning reader. Next, my first-grader and I take turns reading a chapter book, alternating paragraphs. Last, I check in with my third grader and discuss what he's read so far in his book. The rest of their quiet time they can choose to continue reading or play quietly.

 

Evening: They choose their reading material and read for 15-30 minutes before they go to sleep.

 

I also read aloud while they eat lunch and we sit on the couch together to read our History and Science. Wow, sounds complicated when I write it out, but it's really a very natural part of our day. :)

 

Cat

[Harriet Vane]

Both kids have free reading times.

 

Ds can read whatever he is motivated to read as long as he eventually works through all his library books. (Both kids are required to get a science, a history, a poetry, and a biography in addition to their own selections.) Ds' official reading time is usually a half an hour sometime during the day, and a quick ten minutes before going to sleep.

 

Dd has to read academic stuff on her free reading time because she inhales fiction at other, non-assigned reading times (her own free time). I define academic stuff rather loosely, though--she reads her library books and whatever classic literature I agree to. Dd's official free reading time is usually an hour, but she reads a lot during her free time as well.

 

I do not choose their free reading books for them but I do exercise veto power on occasion. I do not allow either child to read horror, for example.

[texasmama]

Thank you for all the great feedback. :) My boys both do love to read, and I do choose most of the books that come into the house. (The rest are chosen by them at the bookstore and are frequently short biographies of sports heroes.) I do like the idea of letting them choose whatever they want for the free reading time, knowing that we don't have any really "bad" choices on the shelves. We will have more freedom in our schedule next year so I think I will schedule in free reading time. Thanks again! :)

[EppieJ]

We do quite a bit of reading together, but ds does have a "quiet reading" time, ideally daily. I only schedule about 15 minutes - I end up trying to cram a lot into a day because we only school 4 days a week. For the scheduled quiet reading he often gets to choose a book from his personal "library" (which is filled with Sonlight books as well as others), but sometimes (if we have readers I really want to get through) I offer a selection to choose from. Ds will often read to himself on his bed at night in addition to the scheduled time.

[SilverMoon]

We have a reading time in the afternoon. About half of their books are assigned and the other half are their choice. For their picks the only guidelines I impose are the book must be somewhere near their reading level, and not be pure fluff/twaddle.

 

The time depends on the kid's age and/or amount of time I know they can focus well for. My first grader reads for about twenty minutes, and my fourth grader for about forty minutes. The fourth grader frequently reads really good books on her own accord though, and I'll drop her forty down if she's currently working on a big one.

[lovemykids]

I do what I call “free reading timeâ€. This is the time when they read largely mom approved books. It may be a book from the AO lit list, a good science or history book, etc. With this choice they may have to provide narrations, a book report, notebook page, etc. (Sometimes, but not all the time.) My children also read various books that they choose themselves, both from the library and from here at home. This happens naturally, between school lessons and at night, or maybe in the morning etc. I do not require anything from those books- but we may discuss them or I might I casually ask how they are enjoying their current read. :)

[lovemykids]

Hmm, yes, I suppose I should just call the reading block of time “assigned reading†but I like the fact that my children get to choose which book they want to read. They often have a couple of approved choices for school time, and it’s up to them to pick which one they want to read on any given day. :tongue_smilie:

[NanceXToo]

My 9 y/o daughter has "silent reading time" most days in which she can read anything she chooses. I take her to the library regularly so she can pick out her own books, and I buy her things I think will be of particular interest to her (like I recently bought some books that feature homeschooled characters; she particularly loved The Monster Of The Month Club series).

 

The only reading I ever "assign" her is the books that Oak Meadow assigns through her curriculum. We read those aloud together to each other. If a particular topic is interesting, we will get books from the library about it and read those together (such as an Orphan Train series we just started today) but for the most part, she reads what she wants to read.

 

I don't strictly enforce the silent reading time- usually she likes doing it but if she tells me she doesn't want to, I would never make her. I want reading to be for pleasure, not a "I have to read now" kind of thing. I've had my nose stuck in a book for as far back as I can remember and reading has always brought me great joy, I want it to be like that for her, too, not a "you have to" kind of sense.

[meet me in paris]

My kids do required reading during their school day, I pick what they read at those times.

 

They have free reading for an hour before bed. They can read whatever they want, even Calvin and Hobbes or the Pride and Prejudice graphic novel. ;)

Same around here. Free reading time is ~free~. Lots of twaddle surfaces during that time, but I don't care. They spend hours reading good stuff every day (and/or listening to me read it). If they want Alex Rider or Dragonology at 8pm, that's their deal. :)

[DawnM]

I don't assign reading anymore.....long story with an Aspie child.....

 

But I do have 30-45 min. free reading. I let them pick at the library. I do double check before they take it home or 12 year old child may pick something at a 2nd or 3rd grade level. I need him to challenge himself a bit.

 

Dawn