A couple of reading questions

[jenn-]

At what point do you switch from having them read aloud to reading silently? Do you still go back and make them read aloud every so often?

 

When do you switch from picture books that focus mainly on sight words to a beginning chapter book?

 

And most importantly, do you have any suggestions for very easy beginning chapter books for 7 yo boys?

[twoforjoy]

At what point do you switch from having them read aloud to reading silently? Do you still go back and make them read aloud every so often?

 

My son NEVER liked reading aloud. I'll make him read a sentence or two aloud to me while we're going over stuff for school--he's the type to skip over directions and jump right into the work, so I usually make him read instructions aloud to me, for example. And he'll occasionally want to read something aloud to me if he thinks it's really interesting or funny. But, for the most part, I don't make him read aloud, although I do sometimes tell him to go read a book to his sister, which he'll do.

 

And most importantly, do you have any suggestions for very easy beginning chapter books for 7 yo boys?

 

Maybe some of the early Magic Tree House books?

[AvasMom]

We still go back and forth with my 9 yr old but he's a struggling reader and he prefers reading out loud to me. I encourage him to read on his own and even push him in that direction but also like him to read to me so I can correct errors (which still happen a LOT).

[jenn-]

My son NEVER liked reading aloud. I'll make him read a sentence or two aloud to me while we're going over stuff for school--he's the type to skip over directions and jump right into the work, so I usually make him read instructions aloud to me, for example. And he'll occasionally want to read something aloud to me if he thinks it's really interesting or funny. But, for the most part, I don't make him read aloud, although I do sometimes tell him to go read a book to his sister, which he'll do.

 

 

How about when he was first starting to read though? At what point did you decide he knew enough words to give silent reading a try?

 

We still go back and forth with my 9 yr old but he's a struggling reader and he prefers reading out loud to me. I encourage him to read on his own and even push him in that direction but also like him to read to me so I can correct errors (which still happen a LOT).

 

This is kind of where we are but a couple years younger. When they read aloud they make simple mistakes that drive me up the wall (seriously they can read the word "this" six times without a pause but on the seventh one suddenly it is so foreign that they can't even sound it out correctly). I wonder if they were reading silently if they would realize on their own that the sentence made no sense when they read something incorrectly. I remember having to give my daughter that gentle push, but I can't for the life of me remember where she was at academically.

[gardening momma]

Dd7 made the switch quickly, without much prompting from me. When she read aloud, she almost always wanted to read to me, which didn't always work out, because sometimes she would read 25 Level 1 books a day. I would occasionally send her to go read in another room, and if she read out loud it didn't bother me. I may have mentioned a couple of times that she can read silently if she wants to. At some point, she just made the switch. She only reads aloud now if she's reading to her sister or to a doll or stuffed animal.

 

As for getting into easy chapter books, we're not completely there yet, but I have been slowly bumping up the difficulty of books that I've been getting for her from the library. She's reading mostly Level 2 & 3 books, with some Level 4 mixed in, as well as 2 Calvin & Hobbes comic strip books, a Classic Peanuts comic strip book, and a few easy chapter books (Breyer Stablemates books--they're girly books, though). She's currently fascinated by superheroes, so she finds books about Spiderman, Superman, Batman, etc. at the library, and often they're Level 4. So she has several books going at once, with bookmarks in them, because she doesn't really have the endurance to read a harder book all the way through.

 

We almost always bring books in the car, so she often reads while we're driving somewhere. She's also allowed to read in bed with a flashlight, as long as she doesn't bother her sister, who is in the lower bunk. The only problem is that she sometimes stays up too late reading. So it's a catch 22. Stays up too late, but is getting better at reading.

Edited June 10, 2011 by gardening momma

[jenn-]

New thought, am I expecting too much from just turned 7 yos? Are picture books still okay at this point? I see kids their age reading chapter books and start comparing, but maybe I am being too hard on them and myself. My DD was in PS K-half of 2nd so she came home to me reading already. These two are the first I am totally responsible for teaching this skill.

[gardening momma]

New thought, am I expecting too much from just turned 7 yos? Are picture books still okay at this point? I see kids their age reading chapter books and start comparing, but maybe I am being too hard on them and myself. My DD was in PS K-half of 2nd so she came home to me reading already. These two are the first I am totally responsible for teaching this skill.

When you say "picture books" I assume you are referring to easy readers, and not picture books that an adult typically reads to baby-5 yrs old, right? Picture books typically have harder words than an easy reader, because it's read by an adult. Of course, if your child is reading picture books too, that's fine. My dd is just over 7 1/2. When she was just-turned-7, she was probably reading Level 1 easy readers. She has really improved in the last few months. The pictures are what keeps them going. A page of just words is daunting at that age. I do have a friend whose son is the same age as my dd, 2 days younger, actually, and he is way ahead of her in reading. He can read regular chapter books, like the Hardy Boys. Has been for at least a year now. I don't compare my dd and him anymore--I just realize that he's way ahead; she's not way behind.

[Mrs Mungo]

At what point do you switch from having them read aloud to reading silently? Do you still go back and make them read aloud every so often?

 

When they are reading fluently, and yes. My kids all read out loud now and then to me. My son (he's 10) is still reading out loud to me from McGuffey's readers.

 

When do you switch from picture books that focus mainly on sight words to a beginning chapter book?

 

?? I'm not sure what you mean? Do you mean switching from readers like the Bob books to chapter books? When they can read from chapter books without much help.

 

There are lot of picture books with hard words and are longer than a beginning chapter book. We read picture books out loud for a looooong time, it's sort of like a performance. :)

[ocelotmom]

We're not really at that point yet, but I think I want to continue with them reading aloud on a regular basis throughout. It's a skill that needs practicing. I know it wasn't easy for me when my kids were little, despite me being a good reader, because it's something I'd done very little of since elementary school, and even then it was rarely more than a paragraph at a time.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

At what point do you switch from having them read aloud to reading silently? Do you still go back and make them read aloud every so often?

 

When do you switch from picture books that focus mainly on sight words to a beginning chapter book?

 

And most importantly, do you have any suggestions for very easy beginning chapter books for 7 yo boys?

 

What books are you reading now? I ask because there there is such a wide variety of picture books and chapter books.

 

What worked well for my youngest was to find a book that was on a good level and then to read everything I could get my hands on by that author.

 

Frog & Toad has many books in the series and then you can read Mouse Tales, Uncle Elephant, The Grasshopper in the Road

 

Little Bear also has several books. No Fighting, No Biting is by the same author.

 

Poppleton, Henry & Mudge and Mr. Putter and Tabby were big hits.

 

The Mouse and the Motorcycle was probably the first chapter book he mastered.

 

I let him have a lot of silent reading this year (he's 8 and finishing 3rd grade) but have decided that I need to make sure he's reading aloud to me at least a couple times a week. He will get lazy on short words and also will come up with wacky pronounciations of some words that aren't phonetic.

 

I'm also a fan of continuing to read aloud well after a kid learns to read himself. It really helps them to listen to something a bit above what they are reading themselves. Jim Trelease's The Read Aloud Handbook is a great book about reading aloud. It will also give you great kid's lit suggestions.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

New thought, am I expecting too much from just turned 7 yos? Are picture books still okay at this point? I see kids their age reading chapter books and start comparing, but maybe I am being too hard on them and myself. My DD was in PS K-half of 2nd so she came home to me reading already. These two are the first I am totally responsible for teaching this skill.

 

Think of it this way. There are chapter books that have really dumbed down language and plot in order to make them "accessable". And there are books with language that soars that also have pictures.

 

I'm thinking for example of the Bionicle books that I let my older sons read as treats (special treats, considering that we had to get them sent to us from the US) to encourage reading. The language is just so basic. And the characters purposefully don't use proper grammar.

 

On the other hand there are picture books like Make Way for Ducklings or Saint George and the Dragon or Seabird (I think the Holling C. Holling books are incredible) that bridge the gap between a Dr. Seuss beginning reader and an episodic chapter book with few pictures.

[Dawn in OH]

My children started reading with HOP and Bob books. These are books with basically cvc words and pictures. When these books became to easy for them, I moved them up to the next level or easy readers, and continued doing so through all the levels available. We never read books focusing on sight words.

 

When the children were reading cvc type books, they read aloud to me daily. When they finally got into chapter books I began only having them read one page aloud to me daily, for the practice of reading out-loud and so that I could assess where they were skill-wise.

 

My 10 year old doesn't really read aloud to me anymore (but we do take turns reading aloud for Science and History). He reads books like Redwall, Eragon, and the Hobbit. His younger sister (8 1/2) still reads a page to me aloud daily. She is beyond leveled readers, but not quite able to read the kinds of books her brother reads yet. She's reading books from both the Little House on the Prairie series and the Narnia series.

 

For beginning chapter books for a boy I would recommend the Magic Tree-house books.

Edited June 10, 2011 by Dawn in OH

[sbgrace]

I've got one who prefers to read silently. He's seven too. I do have him read aloud to me so I can hear what's happening. He reads silently on his own. His twin always reads aloud. I guess I'm saying I'd just allow him to read silently when he decides to do so. I don't see a reason to rush that at these ages. I do think, especially with a beginner, you'd want to hear him read as well.

 

After stuff like Nora Gaydos, my kids started out with Frog and Toad, Little Bear, etc. Those have pictures and not a ton of text. I think they were good transitions. I wanted to mention that my boys love to read Nate the Great books. I don't see those mentioned so much. What types of picture books is he reading? The things I think of as picture books actually have a higher reading level on average than the easier/beginning chapter books.

[jenn-]

Thank you for the continued replies. I went to the library today and feel a lot better now. In the kids' department they have AR levels on some of their books. I was able to look quickly through the stacks and find some that were at the 1/2 grade level. Flipping through those I was able to pick some out I think the boys will like to read and will be able to read with little trouble. This to me means they are reading at their grade level and I just need to ignore the little girl at swim lessons who was flying through a Magic Treehouse book (which were mainly marked at the 3rd grade level). I started one with one of my twins and his biggest complaint was that the pictures weren't in color. :001_rolleyes: I am guessing that means he isn't ready for the pictures to go away.

[ElizabethB]

I have them keep reading aloud and keep working on phonics until they can read anything with no errors.

 

You can try my syllable division exercises at the end of my how to tutor page, or you could add in something like megawords for some syllable work.

 

I also like the syllable divided books:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/syllabledividedb.html

[eternalknot]

At what point do you switch from having them read aloud to reading silently? Do you still go back and make them read aloud every so often?

 

When do you switch from picture books that focus mainly on sight words to a beginning chapter book?

 

And most importantly, do you have any suggestions for very easy beginning chapter books for 7 yo boys?

 

I set aside reading time for everyone, every day; even my pre-reader had "silent sustained reading" time (looking over familiar books and/or reading along to books on CD) as a regular part of the school day.

 

Both kids still read aloud -usually to each other- and also read silently, every single day. I want both of them to learn how to read aloud at a comfortable pace, to use inflection and tone, and to be able to practice sitting and being respectful of a reader/speaker. They are five and ten.

 

We never did any formal reading or phonics programs, nor did we read the learn-to-read type of books - I'm not sure what's considered "beginning" chapter books. I've always made all types of books available to them for SSR, so I don't know when they transitioned from one type to another. Both still read both kinds of books, so I guess the transition hasn't happened yet LOL.

 

My kids didn't care for Magic Treehouse books, so we never did those, but my son used to like the Boxcar Children books and Great Illustrated Classics. My daughter enjoys many of the titles from the FIAR booklists - they're not chapter books, but IMO many of them are serving an equal purpose in helping her to read longer stretches of text (albeit with more, brighter pictures). My son is usually on the listening end of the FIAR booklist, and he still enjoys the stories well enough. Maybe check those?