Is rereading books bad for dc learning to read?

[Tabrett]

I'm just curious. Most of the reading curriculums I have used or reviewed never have dc reread stories. They read a story once and are on to the next story.

 

Is rereading books bad for dc?

 

If not, why do most curriculums not have dc reread.

 

To me, it make since for a new reader to read a story on day one to decode and reread the story on day two for fluency and expression. Is this not good for a dc to do?

[Kuovonne]

Re-reading for building fluency is okay and useful for a beginning reader. Re-reading when the exact words of a story are memorized is not useful.

[Aurelia]

I've found rereading really helps fluency and comprehension. I think most curricula try to constantly challenge the child and assume the child will be re-reading outside of school time.

[Guest]

To me, re-reading is a critical skill, both when kids are learning to read, when older children are acquiring fluency (this is why series chapter books are so popular), and later on when they are being introduced to literary analysis (finding patterns, repeating images, looking at structure). It is way undervalued in formal pedagogies and I'm not sure why.

 

I'd let a child re-read to her heart's content. I am certain that memorizing picture books and later on, huge swathes of other literature, is what allowed dd to internalize rhythm and sentence structure, remember grammatical constructions, and notice differences among authorial styles. I learned to trust dd's passion for repetition in a number of areas; she always seemed to be getting something from it and stopped when she was satisfied (although that was usually way, way, WAY after I'd had enough, and that is still true today with certain things she comes across and falls in love with).

[Tabrett]

Would a curriculum really expect a dc to reread on their own? My dc will not read unless I tell her to. If my dc reread books or stories on her own, I would not stop her, but since she doesn't and the curriculums do not schedule a rereading, I was trying to figure out if rereading was bad and wondered if that was why the curriculum didn't tell you to reread.

[lionfamily1999]

I think it's more of a boredom factor than anything else :p

[Guest]

Would a curriculum really expect a dc to reread on their own? My dc will not read unless I tell her to. If my dc reread books or stories on her own, I would not stop her, but since she doesn't and the curriculums do not schedule a rereading, I was trying to figure out if rereading was bad and wondered if that was why the curriculum didn't tell you to reread.

 

Does she ask for repeated favorite read-alouds? Does she like to look at the pictures in books you've already read? Do you listen to audiobooks together? Some of them are so well read that it's just a pleasure to listen to them multiple times. Does she like to do joint readings, where you take turns (Poems For Two Voices is good for this) or act out the stories?

 

If she doesn't, maybe her curriculum is not matching her interests. I'd try other kinds of books -- non-fiction, for instance, is a favorite for many kids and gets short shrift in most beginning reading programs. One of my friends had a dd who loved looking through her mom's Gray's Anatomy; my dh loved Reader's Digest stories and jokes; another friend had a dd who absolutely devoured many times over anything having to do with archeology. Hunt around a bit and see if you can find something that triggers her desire to read without being told to do so.

 

If not, but she's doing well and her reading is progressing within the norm, I wouldn't worry about it. I have a suspicion that re-reading proclivities vary greatly from person to person. Dd and I re-read obsessively; dh does not. We're all book fiends.

[MerryAtHope]

Re-reading was very helpful for my kids for building up confidence, fluency, speed, and recognition.

 

I am not sure I would want a curriculum to schedule it though--I would rather decide myself or let my children decide, and move on to the next lesson when they were ready. I think it would vary a lot--some kids might want to re-read all week while other kids might be bored by that and want to move on the next day.

 

One curriculum that I think schedules re-reading is Five in a Row, but I'm not sure if it has readers or just read-alouds that are re-read.

 

Merry :-)

[merry gardens]

To me, re-reading is a critical skill, both when kids are learning to read, when older children are acquiring fluency (this is why series chapter books are so popular), and later on when they are being introduced to literary analysis (finding patterns, repeating images, looking at structure). It is way undervalued in formal pedagogies and I'm not sure why.

 

I'd let a child re-read to her heart's content. I am certain that memorizing picture books and later on, huge swathes of other literature, is what allowed dd to internalize rhythm and sentence structure, remember grammatical constructions, and notice differences among authorial styles. I learned to trust dd's passion for repetition in a number of areas; she always seemed to be getting something from it and stopped when she was satisfied (although that was usually way, way, WAY after I'd had enough, and that is still true today with certain things she comes across and falls in love with).

:iagree:

 

I love re-reading my favorite stories! With good literature, the reader takes in something new at each reading. There are some advantages to re-reading, especially to the point of memorizing stories--it's memory work! Memorizing is a good thing. Knowing a story (or it's plot and characters) by heart is a good thing. Of course, memorizing isn't reading, but memorizing isn't bad. There can be room for both old books and new books as a child learns to read.

[katilac]

Re-reading is an excellent way to build fluency and increase speed, not just for emerging readers, but for all readers. Reading books "below level" is another helpful method - - there should be a mix of easy reading, right-on-target reading, and challenging reading.

[lionfamily1999]

Just so no one thinks I (who have read The World According to Garp at least fifty times) am against rereading by choice. I meant that I don't think it's included in curriculum, because it would be considered boring and possibly turn kids off of reading.

[shanvan]

To me, re-reading is a critical skill, both when kids are learning to read, when older children are acquiring fluency (this is why series chapter books are so popular), and later on when they are being introduced to literary analysis (finding patterns, repeating images, looking at structure). It is way undervalued in formal pedagogies and I'm not sure why.

 

I'd let a child re-read to her heart's content. I am certain that memorizing picture books and later on, huge swathes of other literature, is what allowed dd to internalize rhythm and sentence structure, remember grammatical constructions, and notice differences among authorial styles. I learned to trust dd's passion for repetition in a number of areas; she always seemed to be getting something from it and stopped when she was satisfied (although that was usually way, way, WAY after I'd had enough, and that is still true today with certain things she comes across and falls in love with).

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:100%

 

 

Repeated reading is what helped my daughter get past the decoding stage. At that time I sometimes approached her reading assignments like a piano lesson. If she didn't read the selection aloud fluently, I worked specifically on the trouble words or phrasing and assigned it to be practiced again. She practiced on our dogs, the cat, and stuffed animals. When she was fluent with the story we made a big deal out of it and she read it to grandparents and friends who were very encouraging.

 

I became very frustrated with the mother of a boy I tutored a few years back because she did not want me to do repeated readings with him. She thought it was cheating. It's not and it's a great tool especially for kids who are having trouble developing fluency.

 

Shannon

[walkermamaof4]

I'm fairly certain that SSRW had us reread every story 3 times. At least, that is the way we did it and I think we got the idea from the manual. It helped so, so much! My kids didn't memorize, and did become fluent and expressive more readily than I think they would have otherwise.

[Mom-ninja.]

Any ideas on how to get my boys to reread? They hate it.

[katilac]

Any ideas on how to get my boys to reread? They hate it.

 

Do they enjoy reading it the first time, or are they reluctant all around? If reading brings joy, and re-reading brings reluctance, I probably would not force it. Instead, I would slip it in via short reading passages that include a lot of the same words - - just write sentences on the white board or such. It's fun to let them erase each sentence as they read it.

 

Another way is to have a group of ten or so short sentences, with slight variations. Repeat a couple of the sentences exactly, but not in order (so sentences 2 and 7 might be the same). You can either hint at them to spot them, or let them discover it on their own (if you think they will). Let them erase or cross out each duplicate sentence that 'snuck in' to their reading practice.

 

Almost every kid naturally turns to re-reading at some point, especially when they start on chapter books, so being reluctant to do it 'on command' isn't necessarily a terrible thing. I would make them re-read some sentences and short passages on occasion, to make sure they CAN. If they don't seem able to, or willing to even try, I would wonder how much guessing and 'reading clues from mom' they are doing, instead of actual reading (if you don't truly read a sentence, it's difficult at best to re-read, kwim? you won't remember where mom corrected you and so on).

[mammaofbean]

dd liked to reread stories when she was learning to read to show off new skills for aunts, uncles and grandparents. i wouldn't force a reread, but if you want to encourage it you can have someone your child admires request a reading.