How do you "check" independently read books?

[Aludlam]

Up until now,we have used the books from Sonlight for her independent reading (dd9). We have used the review questions that come along with the schedule. It has worked out pretty well. (I would add that we have tried all of Sonlight before, but it did not work for us. We use the "hodge podge method") We are now getting to the end of our readers. I think they are the readers used before Core 3. Anyway, we are about to be in open territory with no safety rope or prewritten review questions. Selecting books is not a problem. The problem is --- lack of time. How do I come up with review questions, or be prepared to hear a narration, if I've never read the book or it's been a really long time since I have? I know the obvious answer would be read the book. Where do I find the time? How do you guys handle this? Is there some magically thing that I don't know about? Some book, or website filled with lots of review questions? Or, do you just sit and read and then make notes? HELP!

 

Thanks bunches

[Dmmetler]

Well, maybe it's because my DD is younger, but I don't. DD reads aloud to me, and we talk about what we read together, but the independent reading books she just reads on her own. Usually, I can tell via her play and topics of conversation that she's read them. And I can also tell when the Sonlight book hasn't kept her interest and she's drifted towards reading American Girl or whatever-because THAT'S what's reflected in her play.

[Aubrey]

For me, it depends. If ds can tell me about the book, I figure he's not making it up. Sometimes, though, he's got something way off--I'll read the blip on the back cover, & if that doesn't do it, I put the book in my pile of stuff to be read. Then I forget about it until, say, a yr later when a thread like this comes up. :001_huh: :lol:

 

Maybe look up review questions/summaries online? Maybe don't do review for *every* book?

 

Obviously, I don't know. :leaving:

[Karen in CO]

I try to read all of the books first. If you plan them out over the summer, you can get them scheduled to be read. For that reason (and because I've been through highschool homeschooling) I'm also working through a list of high school books that I want my girls to read. It is a lot easier to discuss them if you've read them.

 

Alternately, you can work through book workbooks VP sells some pretty good ones and only discuss those books and leave the others with simple questions - What did you think of it type questions. Or do lots of read aloud and buddy reading.

 

One of the big things I advocate to parents of young children is to skip researching the perfect XYZ curriculum and spend time reading your dream high school reading list. It will have a great payoff in the end.

 

There is a huge panic you feel when your kid hits highschool and you realize that not only have you never read Gilgamesh or Paradise Lost but that you also can't possibly read it before your student does.

[Daisy]

I pre-read as much as possible even if I only have the time to skim the book mostly because there is so much trash out there especially in 5th grade and up books.

 

We tackle our reading VERY informally at my house. My kids just tell me about the book. We are eating breakfast and I might say, "So what's happening now in your book?" I might ask my son, "So what do you think so-n-so character will do next?" I tend to ask my daughter higher level thinking questions like, "What do you think the author is trying to tell us, the reader?" :D

 

About once a month, I require the kids to write a summary, book review for their blog, or book report.

 

That's it. We don't analyze it to death. We don't break down all the vocabulary words. We don't do fill-in-the blank stuff or charts.

 

If they come across a word they don't know & detracts from their comprehension, they'll yell out, "Hey, Mom, what does.... mean?" I might answer or I might say, "Do I look like a dictionary?" :lol:

 

If they are getting characters confused they'll tell me they are going to make a character tree so they can keep everyone straight.

 

Whatever. I don't make it a big deal. My kids love to read and have no problems remembering what they read.

 

The above applies ONLY to assigned reading (approximately 15 books per school year). All other reading is just for fun and I don't check it at all though I'll still ask questions because I'm nosy like that.

Edited October 27, 2010 by Daisy

[Jennay]

I don't.

 

I use Sonlight as well and we discuss the scheduled books (sooner or later!) If my sons finish the scheduled books quickly and read "extra" (which they always do) I don't discuss those books at all. I just let them read.

[Aludlam]

Do you guys have your kids read biographies, history or science books? How do you handle the review of those?

 

thanks again

[Karen in CO]

Do you guys have your kids read biographies, history or science books? How do you handle the review of those?

 

thanks again

 

 

Yes, and I read those too.

[Daisy]

Do you guys have your kids read biographies, history or science books? How do you handle the review of those?

 

thanks again

 

Sure and I handle them the same as I mentioned in my previous post. If it is something they really liked, they may choose to do a notebooking page on it (like a book report) and include it in their history/science notebook but I rarely make that mandatory because we do daily summaries in history as it is.

[Dawn in OH]

My nine year old son openly talks about what he's read in his books. This is great for me, because he's reading big books. I don't have the time to read his books. I know he's read them based on all of his chattering about the book.

 

My eight year old daughter is reading at a much lower level than her brother. She has no interest in the kind of books he's reading. She's reading short 50 page books, that still have some pictures in them. I read her books. It takes me about 10-15 minutes. When she finishes her book I ask her questions about the story. She had tried some longer chapter books, but only about a chapter a day. I just stayed a chapter ahead of her all the time.

[ArizonaGirl]

Have you looked at BookAdventure.com? I'll be honest--I haven't used it, but it will quiz on the books your children read.

 

Mostly, I just don't like to sit and supervise computer time. It is easier to keep it off, but if you really can't read ahead of your child, it is another way to see if they actually read and understood the book.

 

Perhaps you could give it a try with something you have already read to see if it will work for you.

 

I also struggle with reading ahead of my children, especially now that I have one in high school. We are still using Sonlight's questions for my younger children, and I will get only a few pages or chapters into a book before my high school student catches up to me and asks for the next book. Reading ahead on limited time is difficult.

[AudreyTN]

I don't either... unless it is for history or science, then I expect a narration after each reading.

[regentrude]

I feel no need to check up on every book my children read - and it would be impossible, as they both read a LOT. (If DD reads 300 pages a day, there is no way I can preread!) If they read it and enjoy reading, I assume the understand what they read - otherwise it would not be fun for them.

I assign selected books as "school reading" and give a writing assignment with those. Any other book they just - read. Often they want to tell me about it.

[Sahamamama]

Take this with a grain of salt, since it's only our plan for first grade (starting in January 2011)! :rolleyes: She's just now finishing up OPG (phonics), so the first grader's Reading Program will be:

 

1. Story Time Treasures & More Story Time Treasures (Memoria Press) -- She's way beyond this in her reading level, but for comprehension and literature study, I wanted to begin at a gentle level and pace. We'll cover one book per month. 20 minutes, 2x/week.

 

2. Guided Reading -- She will be assigned a book from this rotating list,

 

 

• The Bible
  
• Classic Bible Stories
  
• Fifty Stories for Six Year Olds
  
• Classic Treasury of Animal Stories
  
• What Your 1st Grader Needs to Know
  
• What Your 2nd Grader Needs to Know
  
• The Guide to Knowledge
  
• The World Treasury of Children's Literature, Vols. 1 & 2
  
• The Children's Book of Virtues
  

 

and will read aloud to an adult who will help her to pronounce and understand unfamiliar words. No formal comprehension questions with this, just read and discuss. We'll read, move the bookmark up, and read again, until she tires of that same volume, then we'll switch to another for a bit. 20 minutes, 2x/week.

 

3. Independent Reading -- She will read from a pre-approved list of books, her choice, 30 minutes, 4x/week (she already easily reads this much). I don't plan to ask formal questions/narrations on this reading, but I might (like Daisy) check up on my student because I'm nosy. :D No, seriously, she's just a little first grader, so I'll probably ask, "How's that book coming along? What's it about?" even though I have some idea from skimming it (or from having read it). Now that I think about it, I have read every book on her list. Don't know if I will be able to keep up with that, but I sure hope so.

 

4. Read Aloud: Chapter Books -- These are the 4-6 chapter books I have chosen to read aloud to the girls next year. No assessment, just read, enjoy, and perhaps discuss. We read at a pace that keeps the story going, if not, we "refresh" our memories with questions. "Hmmm... where were we?"

 

5. Read Aloud: Literature, Poetry & Picture Books -- Classic nursery tales, folk tales, fairy tales, fables, parables, Greek myths, Potter, Burgess, Lear, Stevenson, Rossetti, and wonderful picture books!

 

Other reading will be done as Read Alouds (me reading), although next year I probably will have the first grader do some of the group reading for Bible, Doctrine, Science, and Geography. She is a strong reader, and enjoys it.

 

She's only going into first grade, so we don't plan to do narrations for all our weekly subjects (only Science). Geography will be memory work, a short lesson, map & flag work (coloring), a read aloud, a sing along, and a hands-on activity (craft, costume, or cooking). I don't know if that helps you or not, but I thought I'd share how we handle the reading that falls outside the formal reading program (STT/MSTT). Basically, I've read the books ahead, and I'll ask her what's happening in her book. HTH.

[robsiew]

I don't. I usually ask them their favorite part. I can tell by how they talk to me about it if they've read it well or not. I won't start worrying about that until they are in Logic stage. Then I'll use the questions SWB lists out in the literature section of WTM.

 

I don't preread all the books either. I actually like to ask the kids about the books they read that I haven't because they feel like they're teaching me something. I can ask questions and not have a preconceived notion of where I want them to end up. I'm really asking because I don't know! They can tell the difference! :001_smile:

[Aludlam]

Thank you all for answering!

 

This goes to the "prereaders" -- When you preread, esp. science or history, do you take notes (esp. if you are reading it quite a bit in advanced)? If so, how? Any particular method that works great for you?

 

thanks again!

[moonlight]

you can usually find review questions for most books online. i usually just search the book he has just read with book review, or book questions and a few sites usually pop up...

[moonlight]

i also got a reading response journal from lakeshore learning that i have my son fill out after certain books. it asks general questions that he can answer such as setting, characters, important events, problem, resolution. the journal has 4 different response pages so it's different every time. he can even draw in there and write underneath the drawing. he's 7 and not a big writer so he can usually do that pretty easily...

[Karen in CO]

I don't take notes for the elementary level books, but when I was doing hs with my ds, I would write out questions, topics or ideas that I wanted to highlight with him when I assigned it later. I would also find an essay question in one of the online resources to use for when we reached that point. It was this whole, long process that made me decide that when I hit hs again, I would use TOG - they have terrific discussion questions for history and science built around topics and themese and not so much around particular books.

 

I was never as worried about comprehension questions as I was about helping my ds learn to analyze and synthesize information.

 

It sounds to me - this morning with my first cuppa coffee - that somethine like Teaching the Classics might help you alot with getting comfortable with your discussions.

Edited October 28, 2010 by Karen in CO

[Mom22ns]

I don't "check" independently read books, but my kids love to tell me about what they are reading. I just ask, "What happened today in X?". I read as many of the books as I can, but it doesn't matter a lot if I've read it. If I have, we end up discussing, "Oh I really like that part because..." or "That part was a little dull, but did you like it when..." etc. If I haven't read the book, they will tell me about it and tell me if I should read it.

[beezus]

I don't necessarily check all independent reading books. The older they get, the harder it is to keep up, especially if you have a voracious reader. I pre-read all books I assign as part of our school work. And no, I generally don't take notes on those. I oftentimes check online for a study guide or lesson plans to get ideas for projects or topics to discuss, but I don't want to be a killjoy with all the independent reading books. Sometimes it's nice just to read for the enjoyment or reading, without always having to do a report or project on what you've read.