Keeping up with Thier Reading

[mom2boys030507]

How do you do it?

 

I can not keep up with my son's reading. He reads so much and understands it all. I currently assign him at least a 2-3p reading for history or science daily, some days it is a True Book or other picture book and 2-3 chapters in a literature book. Today, he started Alice in Wonderland. He will finish this book in a little over a week. I just do not have time to pre-read all of his books, yet I would like him narrate and be able to check for understanding.

 

Any suggestions for keeping up with your kids? I really don't know what I am going to do once I have more than one reading like this and my second son is well on his way.

[regentrude]

My DD has been a voracious reader since she was 5 years old - there is no way I could even attempt to read all the books she does because she easily reads several hundred pages in a day.

I do not, however, see any need to do so. We have conversations about books, and I can see that the kids understand what they read. I really do not think a child who does NOT comprehend what he reads would keep reading this much. Also, discussions about books are ongoing - if we see a movie, they discuss whether it is true to the book, or where the film deviates from the book, and whether this is in keeping with the characters.

 

I distinguish between books I assign for school and self-selected reading. For assigned books, we typically do some sort of assignment, such as a report, an essay, a narration, or we supplement with some in-depth discussion. For the self selected reading, they pick what they want and enjoy. If the are begging me to get the next book in the series, then I take this as a sign they understand what they read.

Checking comprehension for the occasional book should give you a pretty good idea of your son's comprehension level. There is no need to do this for every single book.

Btw, books like "Alice in Wonderland" can be understood on several different levels, so the comprehension question is really not a sensible one - a young child can just enjoy the story, whereas a highschooler could be expected to get some of the symbolism and allusions, and a graduate student can pick apart the psychological implications.

My goal with younger readers was to instill a love of reading (and I am glad I was successful). Nothing turned them off reading more than the never ending comprehension tests in public school.

[NanceXToo]

I would never attempt to "keep up with" my kid's books. I don't feel the need to pre-read them (I can tell fairly well by cover/description whether it's at least appropriate for her age). I don't feel the need to quiz her on books she reads for fun to see if she's "getting them"- like the person above said, a kid who loves to read that much, who goes through that many books, is probably getting them just fine. When it's assigned/school reading, sure, do narration, reports, whatever you want to do. But when they read just for fun? let it be fun!

[mom2boys030507]

I am not trying to keep up with his reading for pleasure.

 

I am just wondering about his school reading. He reads so much and enjoys it. With two younger boys, I don't always read his science and histroy ahead of time. I do pre-read books at times but not many.

 

He does narrations on about half of what I assign and the rest we just talk about what he is reading both for school and pleasure. I do agree that he would not read this much if he didn't get it. He loves to read and if it is a story that captures him we hear about it. I am happy to hear that others feel what thier child is talking about is enough to know they are understanding what they are reading.

 

I guess it just feels like at times, he is reading so much and learning so much more than I know. This is wonderful and a very scary thing. He is 7, I wonder how am I going to be able to teach him in the years to come if I feel like his knowlege base is bypassing me now. I know that much of what he learns now he will forget, he is building a base for future education. I wonder - are narrations, notebooking pages enough? He is learning, he is loving to learn and I do not want to lose this love. I just want to make sure I am doing all that I should be as his teacher.

[regentrude]

I wonder how am I going to be able to teach him in the years to come if I feel like his knowlege base is bypassing me now.

 

I am not able to teach my children all the things they need to learn, because I don't know everything. For older kids, I see my role as a facilitator: I get them books, materials, provide a stimulating atmosphere, am their discussion partner, help them to develop good study habits - but I do not teach them everything. I help them learn.

If you look at it from this point, it is much less scary ;-)

 

I let my children teach me what they have learned. My son enjoys making presentations and telling me about all the cool things he studied for history. This way, we all benefit: I get to learn new facts, and he gets to organize his material and to explain it to somebody, which is the best learning tool in the World (as an instructor by profession, I know that one only fully understands things once one had taught them to somebody else)

 

Often, I use these presentations as the only graded assignment. If the kids can tell somebody else what they have learned, with a good visual presentation, correct grammar and semantics and a logical structure, that is a more important result than having a folder full of filled in worksheets.

[mom2boys030507]

I I help them learn.

If you look at it from this point, it is much less scary ;-)

 

Often, I use these presentations as the only graded assignment. If the kids can tell somebody else what they have learned, with a good visual presentation, correct grammar and semantics and a logical structure, that is a more important result than having a folder full of filled in worksheets.

 

Thank you Thank you Thank you

 

This is what I needed to hear today. I keep thinking that I need to have my son start teaching me and you have given me the courage to go ahead. I know that he has to learn all the parts but I can start now he is ready, I just have to start trusting my gut. I don't want to do the worksheet thing, it is just not fun for any of us.

 

Again, Thank you Thank you Thank you

[robsiew]

I am not trying to keep up with his reading for pleasure.

 

I am just wondering about his school reading. He reads so much and enjoys it. With two younger boys, I don't always read his science and histroy ahead of time. I do pre-read books at times but not many.

 

He does narrations on about half of what I assign and the rest we just talk about what he is reading both for school and pleasure. I do agree that he would not read this much if he didn't get it. He loves to read and if it is a story that captures him we hear about it. I am happy to hear that others feel what thier child is talking about is enough to know they are understanding what they are reading.

 

I guess it just feels like at times, he is reading so much and learning so much more than I know. This is wonderful and a very scary thing. He is 7, I wonder how am I going to be able to teach him in the years to come if I feel like his knowlege base is bypassing me now. I know that much of what he learns now he will forget, he is building a base for future education. I wonder - are narrations, notebooking pages enough? He is learning, he is loving to learn and I do not want to lose this love. I just want to make sure I am doing all that I should be as his teacher.

 

I have 4 kids and have read some of the classical literature, but not most of what I put in front of my kids. There is NO way I can keep up with all of it and I don't even try. Most of the books I assign for school I don't even read. Most of the recommendations are from the SOTW AG so I know we're getting good lit.

 

I do have one book for each child that we read together during school time. This book is one I choose (actually I choose all their school books) and it's usually slightly above their reading level. They each read out loud to me 10-15 min. per day in their particular book. This allows me to enjoy the story with them and we can talk and discuss the book as we go. I figure if I can do it with one book for each of them, then that's pretty good!

 

The rest I just let go... I will sometimes ask for a summary, but that's really hard for kids this age... they want to tell everything! My ds9 could give me an hour long oral book report on each book he reads! Next year I may institute a reading notebook for my ds9, but currently my kids do not do that for their reading.

[Ellie]

You don't need to pre-read all of his books, and he shouldn't have to narrate back to you from every one he reads. Just pick one a month and let that one be the Official School Book. :-)