Read-alouds & doodling, etc.

[poohma]

I have heard that during a read-aloud, kids who are fidgety are encouraged to doodle, color, or play with something in their hands to help them concentrate.

 

How does this help them concentrate? I would think that this would distract them even more because their imaginations would be taking them somewhere else with the doodling, coloring or playing with some legos or other toy.

 

Also, I try to teach my kids to look at the person who is speaking or else it is considered disrespectful. Why would I teach the opposite (that it's okay not to look at the person or interact with that person), and instead do your own thing, during a read-aloud?

[Mergath]

I used to doodle during lectures when I wasn't taking notes in college, and it never hurt my concentration. I don't know that it actually helped, either, but it definitely didn't hurt.

 

As for looking at a speaker, I have social anxiety issues, and making too much eye contact for me actually hurts my ability to concentrate because it makes me nervous. I'm sure there are a lot of other adults and kids out there that have the same problem.

[The Girls' Mom]

Just speaking personally...I cannot just sit still and listen. My hands have to be doing something. I've always been that way, and any attempts to be otherwise usually end up with me zoning out and daydreaming. Doodling (or paper folding, or folding laundry, etc.) actually DOES help me focus. I doodle during sermons, do a myriad of things while watching TV or listening to a book. My kids are the same way.

[Veritaserum]

I think it's a matter of how a person's brain is wired. My oldest has ADHD and is a kinesthetic learner. She has to be moving in order to hear me/listen/remember. By allowing her to work on a puzzle, play with play-dough, color, bounce on a yoga ball, etc. I'm making it possible for her to pay attention. I have a hard time just sitting. My mind wanders and I stop paying attention. If I'm doing something with my hands, it's just easier for me.

 

I recall hearing a study about how people that doodle while listening are more likely to remember things.... It was a couple of years ago.

 

Anyway, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised by how much easier reading aloud becomes when children are engaged in mom-sanctioned activity and that they really are paying attention. :)

 

Listening to someone read is a completely different scenario than having a conversation. When conversing with someone, I agree that it's polite to give that person your whole attention. :)

[OrganicAnn]

I'm a big doodler. I remember reading that doodling helps retain the information. I think that if a child does not understand the words, then looking at the person's face would help with comprehension but not necessarily with retention.

 

I don't think it is disrespectful unless they are making noise.

 

ETA: Doodling is not the same a drawing. It is often more like daydreaming with a pencil. Your may not think that much about what you are doing. It can be the same thing over and over or it could be related to what you are listening to. Drawing is a more artistic endeavor.

Edited April 8, 2010 by OrganicAnn

[Guest]

I agree that how a person listens best depends on their learning modalities. I've heard about kids who rode their scooters in big circles around their mother while she read aloud, or kids who jumped on the trampoline while being read to, etc. Other kids do different things. Mine can listen to a book read on tape while also reading to herself, and looks up when her favorite lines or something unexpected are read on the audiobook -- so she's listening -- AND can answer any question on the book she has in her hands. She is also an anxious child, so benefits greatly from having something in her hands to fiddle with (otherwise she will pull her hair or scrape at her fingernails).

[LibraryLover]

One year, 3 of my children (including a very boy-boy) and I listened to all of the Narnia books as we knitted a winter away. All of my children (even the non-knitter lol) adore Narnia and distraction was simply not an issue. I think knitting is harder than doodling. lol

[Kirch]

I definitely don't think it's disrespectful, because you're reading a story that is designed to engage the imagination. You're not performing or communicating personally. Even in situations that do involve personal communication (i.e. a sermon), as long as the doodling is keeping your hands busy so your mind can concentrate, I don't think it's a problem. Now if you're bored and doodling/drawing as an escape, that might be another issue.

 

That said, it definitely does NOT work for my DS. I discovered that his listening comprehension goes way down when he colors while we read, to the point that I've had to re-read things. He doesn't color while we read anymore. :001_smile:

[Peela]

Its probably different for different people. It may be just my kids, but my girl can multi task perfectly well, yet my boy can not so well.

Read aloud time is still our favourite time of the day. Ds14 eats. Dd15 draws and paints. Over the years, ds has eaten a lot :) and dd has sketch books full of amazing drawings and paintings. I wouldnt have her give up that daily hour or so of art time for anything- she listens, she can narrate back and answer questions and give her opinion. And its a joy for her to do her art at the same time.

I think that different parts of the brain are probabyl used, and thats why many kids can doodle and listen at the same time, and it has apparently worked for many ADD kids to do that. They get to use their hands and engage one part of their brain that wants kinasthetic movement...and it allows the other part, the one you want to engage- to engage more easily. It make sense to me.

I wouldnt spoil my kids enjoyment of our read aloud time by being rigid about sitting still and making eye contact. There is a time for that, but we are at home, in a relaxed environment, not a school. But each family and different children are different...if my kids couldn't listen and eat/draw at the same time, I would handle it differently. I would probably not read for so long at a time.

[5LittleMonkeys]

Article about doodling

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1904080/can_doodling_help_to_improve_memory.html?cat=5

[Daisy]

My children are allowed to draw while I read. That is far different from random doodling. They are allowed to draw pictures that directly relate to the reading. For example, today I read about the marshlands of Iraq. My son drew a flat bottomed boat that I had mentioned. My daughter took notes and doodled various sketches of items I mentioned. Both children narrate BETTER if they have something to keep their focus on the reading.

 

I see this as no different than teaching the skill of note taking. As a matter of fact the transition from sketching to note taking to outlining to summaries has been nearly seamless for my daughter. They use these skills in church also for sermon note taking.

[Carrie12345]

My younger dd has to be coloring or fidgeting with toys or practically standing on her head to listen to read alouds. If I don't let her, she spends the whole time thinking about coloring or fidgeting with toys or practically standing on her head, and doesn't hear a word I say.

 

It infuriated me at first, but then I saw how she was better able to narrate back when she was keeping her body busy.

[rafgaf4]

My kinder is all boy and could not sit still for anything. There are times when he just snuggles with me on the couch during a read aloud and then there are times that I have him go draw while I am reading. I find it very difficult to read when someone is jumping up and down, fidgeting, rubbing hands together, etc. Drawing helps helps both of us be able to concentrate more on the book. I always ask comprehension questions after I get done reading a story. He does well regardless if he is sitting next to me or drawing.

[Ellie]

Also, I try to teach my kids to look at the person who is speaking or else it is considered disrespectful. Why would I teach the opposite (that it's okay not to look at the person or interact with that person), and instead do your own thing, during a read-aloud?

So, if you're reading aloud for, oh, 20 minutes, your dc is supposed to look right into your face for the whole 20 minutes??? And what kind of "interaction" should there be during a read-aloud???

 

I gotta tell you that the only reason I think I made it through high school was that I was taking notes, which is doodling writ large. :-) Even as an adult, a speaker has to be VERY engaging for me to just sit and listen without keeping my hands busy doing *something*.

 

My only caveat would be that the doodling shouldn't be distracting to *me* or anyone else, and that the dc were actually paying attention. I used to read aloud to my students in my little one-room school, and at first I allowed them to doodle and draw while I read; however, they distracted each other--and me--by asking for *that* color marker, and popping the caps off and on (later, I outlawed markers). ARGH.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

I think it is torture for some people to have to sit still without moving while someone else is talking. I had to give my daughter paper and pencil while I did read alouds, we were all so much happier when she was drawing instead of fidgeting. I did ask her to draw on subject as well. She came up with some amazing pictures and to this day we can look at them and remember what we were reading.

[Tracy in Ky]

I have heard that during a read-aloud, kids who are fidgety are encouraged to doodle, color, or play with something in their hands to help them concentrate.

 

 

This definitely helps my kids during read alouds. Coloring, drawing, legos, magz, knitting etc. Busy hands = engaged brains! :)

[elegantlion]

My ds is wired like dh and I. I have to doodle to truly focus, dh does better if he moves while listening. I remember the first time ds and I watched a movie for school, it was Little Women. He was about 8, he moved the entire time the movie was on. I took notes and asked him comprehension questions afterward. He got 24 out of 25 correct. He understood more because he wasn't having to tell his brain to slow down.

 

Sometimes ds acts out what I'm reading, sometimes he draws, sometimes he plays with the cat, and sometimes he sits. I will stop and ask questions while I'm reading and I can tell if he's spaced off or is simply being himself.

 

When he needs to sit and listen he is allowed to have something to fidget with.

[DarlaS]

Even as an adult, a speaker has to be VERY engaging for me to just sit and listen without keeping my hands busy doing *something*.

 

 

:iagree:

 

I'm really glad that Andrew Pudewa doesn't mind that I fold laundry while listening to his IEW lectures (on dvd of course).

[Time4tea]

Try it and see how it works for you. I know I was surprised that my dd could be doing things while we read and still knew exactly what was being read.

[nmoira]

I think that with the vast majority of people it doesn't matter, but if my 5yo has a pencil and paper, she's lost to the world within a couple minutes.

[DarlaS]

I think that with the vast majority of people it doesn't matter, but if my 5yo has a pencil and paper, she's lost to the world within a couple minutes.

 

My dd is like this. I have tried to encourage her to color or something while I read, and she has told me she can't pay attention that way.

 

We must be on the sofa and she must be plastered against me reading as I go along. :001_wub:

 

I hope it lasts. :D

[JennW in SoCal]

My dd is like this. I have tried to encourage her to color or something while I read, and she has told me she can't pay attention that way.

 

We must be on the sofa and she must be plastered against me reading as I go along. :001_wub:

 

I hope it lasts. :D

 

I'm jealous! My youngest ds used to dive roll over me while I was reading aloud or jump off the bed over and over and over. He caught ever word, but it drove me nuts!

 

A friend hands out globs of play doh or several pipe cleaners for teens to fiddle with during co-op book discussions.

[poohma]

Thanks, all. I do appreciate all your replies. I'll try some of the suggestions.

[Alphabetika]

My middle dd is kinesthetic. Doing something with her hands helps her think, helps her listen, helps her sit still. As someone else said, it's the way her brain is wired. And think of it this way - a kid who learns handicrafts and does them while listening is productive! DD has knitted hats, scarves, bags, while listening to me read.

 

My oldest is the opposite - even when she was a baby, she loved to listen to me read but she would just sit there, still as a stone, not even turn the pages of the book. She could do this for hours.

 

Youngest dd is a book-eating baby. The board books which made it through the other two unscathed now have all the corners chewed off. :)

Edited April 23, 2010 by Alphabetika

[Dmmetler]

My DD has nearly perfect recall if she's drawing or coloring while listening, but tends to lose focus if she's just listening. I have a stack of Dover coloring books just waiting to start core 1 in the fall ;).