Reading questions

[ByGrace3]

dd is completing K (well, completed really). We are doing light phonics/reading and math over the summer, but are currently taking a 2 week break from all but reading a few minutes a day (10-15 minutes).

 

First question: How long do your 5-6 yo's read aloud to you a day?

Second question: What if your dc do not like to read? What do I do about that? She will say, I love Bible and math, but I don't like to read. I like when you read to me. . .

Our primary goal right now is to learn to read and love it! :tongue_smilie: We have the learning part down! :lol: She actually reads very well, (currently reading Sonlight 2 readers) and I know reading is "work" so I am trying not to be discouraged, but . . . do I just press on? Requiring 10-15 minutes a day is not too much right? There is no crying or tears or even arguing about it, dd is pretty compliant. I just don't want to mess this up and make her hate reading.

Thoughts?

Do I continue to have her read aloud to me on her current "level" She reads this level fluently, maybe missing a word or 2 every 1-2 pages. Drop her a level? She likes reading Bob books! ;) Just not sure how that would help her reading. Try both?

Is this just par for the course, and I need not stress about it? I know school always won't be fun, but she is 5 and my goal really has been for this to be fun for her at this point . . .

Thanks!

[boscopup]

Is she reading aloud for 15 minutes? Or just reading total for 15 minutes? I never did much reading aloud with DS when he was that age, but he taught himself to read. I'm starting to add in some reading aloud now, but it's definitely not 15 minutes. He'd mutiny! He much prefers to read to himself, as that's faster.

 

For loving reading, I suggest getting books from the library that are interesting to her (whatever topic and genre she likes) that is a grade level or 2 below her reading level. You want it to be easy. Who likes to read books that are difficult to read? That's not fun. So right now for my rising 2nd grader, he reads at a 5th-ish grade level, and I do have him reading a 4th-5th grade book everyday for "literature" (and he reads part of it out loud - usually just one page), but the free time reading available is mostly at a 3rd grade level. He doesn't have to work at all to read that material, and there is a lot of interesting stuff at that level.

 

And then sometimes you have to resort to twaddle. I will admit that early on, when I was trying to get him to like short chapter books, I got him Clone Wars books. I considered them "advanced twaddle". :D He doesn't read them all the time, but they got him wanting to read more. Now he reads a lot of science and history, and he loves books like Amelia Bedelia. So far, a lot of the good classic literature has not been a huge hit. He loves My Father's Dragon, but other stuff like Charlotte's Web, Trumpet of the Swan, etc... those haven't been what he was interested in, or maybe it was just that he has to work harder to read them. He'll read just one chapter a day for those. He read the 2nd MFD book (Elmer and the Dragon) in one morning. :tongue_smilie:

 

Don't know if any of that helps. Hopefully she'll love reading soon! I imagine she just has to work too hard right now, and it will get better as her reading ability improves. :)

[ByGrace3]

honestly, I am not really timing her, I would assume it was around 10-15 minutes. I try to read her, be sure she is not too tired etc. I don't know that she is fluent enough to read on her own yet, I still have to slow her down every once in awhile, which she will stop go back and fix it without assistance most of the time (though she still gets to words she does not know). I would definitely consider this reading instruction, while over these 2 weeks we are taking a break from our scheduled "readers", and just working on fluency. Not sure if that makes a difference? :confused:

[katnorman]

My 6 year old DD went through this! She can read very well, but didn't want to read aloud for some reason. She kept saying for the longest time "I don't know how to read," when I knew that she could. So, I just kept telling her that she can read and she reads great, etc. Finally, it's almost like it clicked with her that she could read and now she reads aloud probably 30 minutes a day and loves it (she is just learning to read to herself)!! But, we also just found Rainbow Magic Fairy books by Daisy Meadows and that is right up her alley :D

[5Wizards]

Here's my story as maybe it will put your mind at ease a little.

 

My oldest had no desire to read. We read to her constantly, and that's what she preferred. She'd even tell us that reading was too hard and that she just wanted us to do it for her. I kept plugging away with having her read a little to me every day, but trying to take it easy and not push too much. When I'd read easy chapter books, I'd have her read the first sentence or two of every chapter to me before I'd continue with the chapter. Even when she was capable of reading chapter books, she seemed afraid to try. One day everything just changed, and she took off, a little bit before she turned 7. From that time she has loved to read, reads above her grade level, and can't seem to get enough of books. It's sounds to me like your daughter is doing just fine for her age. :grouphug:

[morosophe]

And then sometimes you have to resort to twaddle. I will admit that early on, when I was trying to get him to like short chapter books, I got him Clone Wars books. I considered them "advanced twaddle". :D He doesn't read them all the time, but they got him wanting to read more. Now he reads a lot of science and history, and he loves books like Amelia Bedelia. So far, a lot of the good classic literature has not been a huge hit. He loves My Father's Dragon, but other stuff like Charlotte's Web, Trumpet of the Swan, etc... those haven't been what he was interested in, or maybe it was just that he has to work harder to read them. He'll read just one chapter a day for those. He read the 2nd MFD book (Elmer and the Dragon) in one morning. :tongue_smilie:

 

:iagree:

 

I grew up reading "twaddle," such horrible stuff that I'm ashamed of it now. Berenstain Bears, Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Babysitter Club, Roald Dahl (sorry, whoever was posting about Matilda, but he just makes me cringe now--except for the Chocolate Factory series, for some reason), Frank Peretti--whatever I could get my hands on. As long as you don't find a book morally objectionable, don't worry that much about it. Your child will grow up and realize that what they used to love is actually dreck, or at least I did.

 

Of course, there's also enough classic and worthwhile literature out there that there should be something your kid will like.

 

Meanwhile, as long as your child is enjoying listening to you read, that's fostering the love of literature that will eventually be the draw to books that will counterbalance the drudgery of actually reading. Or at least, that's my experience with myself. My mother tells me that I was really pretty slow on the reading front, but I ended up an English major!

 

My son's a year behind yours, since he's reading through the same readers your daughter is but finishing first grade. (Watch out for The Sword in the Tree--it's a true chapter book, and a real challenge. My son took a little longer reading that one than usual, but when I let him read it himself and just asked the comprehension questions, he did well. And he told my husband all about the story, so I think he ended up liking it!) So, y'know, your daughter's definitely not behind, and letting her coast for a while on "I Can Read" Level One or Two books is not going to ruin her reading progress forever.

[nov05mama]

I just have my DS read a couple of his readers each day and that's about it...we almost always have a current read-aloud that we are working on, and sometimes this is an Ambleside recommendation, sometimes it's something that he specifically wants to have read. Right now, we are reading James and the Giant Peach ;) and he LOVES it. I definitely don't time him or anything. He also likes using the online reading sites like MightyBookJr and other sites similar to it. :) He will read a handful of stories to me and then be done. Otherwise, he just browses and reads what he wants when he wants.