Read Alouds...

[acurtis75]

Am I the only one who doesn't read out loud to my child? I'm sure she would tolerate it if I suggested it but it seems kind of a waste of time since she reads so well on her own. I read to her a lot before she could read fluently on her own but we haven't done any consistent read alouds since she was about 4. She's 6 now and reads for hours on end without being asked. Is this a critical educational component that I am depriving dd of receiving or do others just skip this too?

[Jen in PA]

Just my opinion, but I think it adds a lot. Both of my kids read for hours a day, too, but I still read to them. I read things that would be a stretch, might be harder to "get into" on their own, or just favorite things that I feel like experiencing with them. If reading aloud isn't something you enjoy, you might want to try audiobooks. We especially love audiobooks read by the author when we can find them.

[JennW in SoCal]

A critical educational component? No. A waste of time? Absolutely not! It is a lovely way of sharing books together, of introducing her to your favorite books. You can stop and explain details, or answer questions, or just make comments. I read aloud to my boys until they were in middle school, and we occasionally still listen together to audio books -- not for school but for fun. Actually, we did read aloud together a few weeks ago during a power outage. I know families who continue reading aloud through high school.

 

Audio books are terrific for long car rides, or at home if you enjoy knitting or something similar.

 

Even if reading aloud or audio books are a bust in your family, I do hope you are still talking about books with your dd, maybe not keeping up with all her reading, but able to discuss some books. My youngest ds and I have been trading books for several years now, impatiently waiting for the other to finish something we recommended just so we can talk about it. It is such a big part of our relationship, and it developed through all those years of reading aloud -- I can't imagine not having that to share with my child.

[regentrude]

I read a lot to my kids before they could read, but as soon as they could, they preferred to read silently by themselves and did not want me to read anymore.

However, we listen to many, many audiobooks in the car.

There is a benefit in hearing literature read well, either by a parent or by a CD, because it helps with pronounciation, vocabulary, and it enables children to approach books for which they are not ready yet with their reading skills.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I started reading adult length novels at 11. My first was Jurassic Park. There were many words that I only saw in print but never heard anyone say. To this day, I still occasionally hear a word and think, "Oh, so that's how you say that word! I've never heard it spoken before."

[nmoira]

My 9yo reads at a rate about 5 times mine (if anything, I'm underestimating); but I still read aloud with her twice each day. There are also a few practical benefits, such learning the pronunciation of the occasional obscure word, but I do it because we love it and would both miss it terribly.

[LittleIzumi]

I started reading adult length novels at 11. My first was Jurassic Park. There were many words that I only saw in print but never heard anyone say. To this day, I still occasionally hear a word and think, "Oh, so that's how you say that word! I've never heard it spoken before."

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:

[Sevilla]

Have you read Jim Trelease's "Read Aloud Handbook"? It is important to read aloud to a child until they are reading on a high school level - and even at that point there are numerous benefits to reading aloud. Some of them are...

 

1. Children can comprehend 3+ grade levels beyond their actual reading level if a book is read aloud. My DS could read on a 1st-2nd grade level at the time that we did 5th grade level books read aloud and he really loved them.

 

2. Increased vocabulary - both spelling, grammar, and pronounciation are greatly increased by reading aloud vs. solely independent reading

 

3. Increase in the rate of students who become 'readers' for life

 

4. Bonding time between parent and child (reduces screen time issues).

[acurtis75]

She does read on a high school level and we discuss books. We are working on a schedule for a family book club where we are all reading and discussing the same books. Also she reads out loud to me a lot which handles the pronunciation issue. She likes listening to stories on tape...like Jim Weiss mp3's but not audiobooks. She has the same issue I do with audiobooks in that they are generally read too slowly for her taste. She is a very fast reader and is able to answer any and all comprehension questions. We spend most of the day discussing and working on schoolwork together. I think maybe we have just been deferring to her preference. I don't dislike reading to her...she just got in to the habit of reading on her own silently. After reading some of the responses I might try to schedule some family reading time...maybe we can rotate the responsibility of reading outloud and see how that works.

[boscopup]

I read aloud for the vocab/pronunciation benefits, and also to encourage listening comprehension (useful for those college lectures ;) ).

[enviromommy]

Am I the only one who doesn't read out loud to my child? I'm sure she would tolerate it if I suggested it but it seems kind of a waste of time since she reads so well on her own. I read to her a lot before she could read fluently on her own but we haven't done any consistent read alouds since she was about 4. She's 6 now and reads for hours on end without being asked. Is this a critical educational component that I am depriving dd of receiving or do others just skip this too?

 

My father read to me every night before bed until I left for college. It had nothing to do with education. It was just so he could share with me the books he loved (mostly science fiction). I have wonderful memories of snuggling into bed, closing my eyes and just listening. It would never have occurred to us to stop just because I was capable of reading the books to myself. That's like saying you don't need to listen to recorded music if you know how to sing to yourself.

[Grover]

We read together every day. Like your DD my DS reads happily for hours on his own, but we like to read together too. Sometimes he steals the book and reads it on his own - the first time he did this I said, "oh, do you want to read that one alone? I'll start a new read aloud then?" He looked horrified and said, "no, I just wanted to know what happened next, but I want you to keep reading too." It's a nice time when I get to share the books I love, and we get to try new things together. I don't see us stopping any time soon.

[Rivka]

I was a very early reader, and I don't have any memories of my parents (or anyone else) reading to me. I read vast quantities of books on my own, had a huge vocabulary, and could answer comprehension questions, but I still think that I missed out.

 

I don't think I'll stop reading aloud to my great reader any time soon. I read to her:

 

- So she hears the proper pronunciation of rare words.

- So we can share the experience of a book together.

- So I can provide context for unfamiliar concepts, which might range from military tactics to Victorian social conventions.

- So she is exposed to more elevated, complex, or old-fashioned books than she can handle on her own.

- Because it's nice.

[Tranquility7]

Andrew Pudewa has a great article on this very topic, and it addresses a beneficial aspect of reading aloud that I don't think PPs specifically mentioned (and several that they have).

 

Here is a relevant excerpt:

… Good readers read quickly, silently, and aggressively. They don’t audiate (hear internally) each word or even complete sentences. Generally, comprehension increases with speed, but speed decreases language pattern audiation because good readers will skip words, phrases and even complete sections of books that might hold them back. And to the extent that children don’t hear (frequently) a multitude of complete, reliably correct, and sophisticated language patterns, such patterns are not going to be effectively stored in their brains.

 

So, what activity will allow children to store these complete, reliably correct, and sophisticated language patterns in their brains? Probably the two most important yet least practiced of all “school†activities: Listening (being read to out loud) and Memorization. These two are perhaps the most traditional of all language acquisition activities, and yet, in our modern educational culture, they have become the orphan children of the progressive parents of psychology and pedagogy.

 

One of the biggest mistakes we make as parents and teachers is to stop reading out loud to our children when they reach the age of reading faster independently. In doing so, not only do we deprive them of the opportunity to hear these all-important reliably correct, and sophisticated language patterns, we lose the chance to read to them above their level, stretching and expanding their vocabulary, interests, and understanding. We begin to lose the chance to discuss words and their nuance, idioms, cultural expressions, and historical connotations. And they lose something far more valuable than even the linguistic enrichment that oral reading provides; they lose the opportunity to develop attentiveness, the chance to experience the dramatic feeling that a good reader can inject, and even the habit of asking questions about what they’ve heard. Tragically, because of our hectic, entertainment-saturated, individualistic, test-obsessed, and overscheduled lives, few of us take sufficient time to read out loud to our students, even into their early teens—a sensitive period when understanding of language and understanding of life are woven together and sealed into the intellect.

 

Because linguistic information is best stored in the brain auditorily, children who have had read to them reliably correct and sophisticated language patterns for many years are much more likely to develop competence in written (and verbal) communication skills. However, there is another not-so-secret weapon in the sagacious teacher’s arsenal: Memorized Poetry…

 

I would also ask how much literary analysis you are doing with your child, because that could be another way to enjoy read alouds together! I was a great reader and read all the time as a kid, but I didn't know how to think deeply about what I was reading, or even how to appreicate the beauty of the language. I recently started doing literary analysis with DS (he is only in K) and we both LOVE it! We talk about elements of the story - plot, setting, characters (and characterization), conflict, climax, resolution, theme, etc. - as well as literary devices like pun, alliteration, foreshadowing, parallelism, irony, imagery, etc., and figurative language like personification, simile, hyperbole, etc. He understand all of these things FAR more than I ever expected.

Deconstructing Penguins is a good place to start learning how to do literary analysis. I also love Teaching the Classics (expensive but worth it), as well as just lots of different resources for explaining figurative language.

 

I think it's *great* that your DD loves to read and is a fast reader with wonderful comprehension. But reading aloud provides such great opportunities for discussing all of these deeper elements, and developing reading habits that go far beyond comprehension.

[acurtis75]

Deconstructing Penguins

is a good place to start learning how to do literary analysis. I also love Teaching the Classics (expensive but worth it), as well as just lots of different resources for explaining figurative language.

 

I think it's *great* that your DD loves to read and is a fast reader with wonderful comprehension. But reading aloud provides such great opportunities for discussing all of these deeper elements, and developing reading habits that go far beyond comprehension.

 

 

Thanks for the reminder about Deconstructing Pengiuns. That was on my lists of books to read and somehow I didn't get it yet. I'm downloading it on my ipad now. I'm looking forward to using it to develop our little family book club we've been planning. To accommodate dd's preference and still get the benefits I'm hearing others reference we're going to start doing some outloud reading. I may just have to agree to let her read every other chapter or possibly re-read stuff she's already read on her own. That way we won't have to deal with her frustration with the slower pace.

[Moonbeam Jones]

At our house we started a Literary Society. The Buttery Biscuit Reading Society to be exact :) We settle down with a treat like a jellied biscuit or cookie with milk or hot chocolate and a good book - currently the Hobbit. My guys are 6 and under, but if your daughter is older, maybe tea and scones or something out of the ordinary. Make it fun and very exclusive :D

 

JJK

[Mommy22alyns]

I started reading adult length novels at 11. My first was Jurassic Park. There were many words that I only saw in print but never heard anyone say. To this day, I still occasionally hear a word and think, "Oh, so that's how you say that word! I've never heard it spoken before."

 

 

This this this!!! The girls are both great readers, but we still do read-alouds every night.

[love2read]

I read aloud well into high school just for the fun of it. The kids love being together and they have something in common to discuss. We just finished Mansfield Park and I'm reading them a biography of St. Augustine now. It is harder to pull this off when they are older, so it may only be a few times a week, but it's too precious to let go.