If you have a fun/interesting way to have structured reading time

[justLisa]

I'm in this slump with DS (7.5) He reads very well, has great comprehension, but almost never chooses to read an actual book on his own account. He loves reading about things of the real world, like articles from DH's technical journal type things. Or when my mom was in grad school he thought it was great to read her astronomy text LOL. Right now I assigned him a great Rohl Dahl book, and I think he likes it some. He is accelerated in several areas, but we try to structure our week so he's not overloaded any given day and make things as joyful as possible. It's not like we spend so many hours in a day that there is no time for lots of playing/free time AND reading.

 

Is this ok and normal? I admit to not having a "scheduled time for reading" each day. Maybe I should do that. I was thinking of re-doing our bookshelves again and put all of the kids books in baskets instead of trying to file anything, and then just have a 30 minute find and read whatever you want. I hear of all these kids who read hours a day and several hundred page novels and I'm like....:001_huh:, what's wrong with my kids? Does anyone have 7.5 year olds who still like to read Curious George to little sis or other short picture books?

 

ETA: I think it's that he is not interested in story books. Or maybe I just have not found the right ones. We always have a read aloud book going, and we read history and science material together as well.

Edited March 24, 2012 by 425lisamarie

[bolt.]

We do "family reading" -- dd7 reads a Bible story (Day by Day Begin to Read Bible -- Karyn Henley) then she reads a whole 'easy reader' type book at her level, then dd4 "reads" a picture book with one or two words per page, then I read a chapter or two of our read-aloud. Getting to be read-to sort of forms the reward for doing their own reading, but mostly it feels inter-contributive.

 

Most days we do this at the front door before we go out for a day, or after morning snack.

[Amy Jo]

We have afternoon quiet time. The older boys take a book to read, or they can nap if tired. (If they choose to nap I know they needed one.) Maybe you need to get him some more non-fiction? The older boys each have a devotion / Bible to read in the morning.

 

You might try "Rain Gutter Bookshelves" - I'd like but I've got to run. They face all the books out, and make books much more popular. Or look here for Dawn's Dish Drainer book organizer. (I think Dawn is her name.)

[KristenR]

Try not to compare your kids or suffer pangs of guilt when you read about what other children are doing. Would you want your kids comparing you to other moms on some networking site? :D

 

That being said, I know all too well how easy it is to fall into that trap. But you mentioned your son willingly reads tech guides and astronomy text books. It doesn't sound like he avoids it. As long as he is reading at an appropriate level for him I wouldn't sweat it.

 

Iif you are trying to foster a life long love of reading then I would try making more of a concerted effort to have numerous types of books left about. Don't force him to read them-- heck don't even ask him to. Just leave a library of books in your home and car within his distance and see what happens. Try a wide range of subjects. Biographies, sports related, greek myths, novels, comic books. Don't let him know you are paying attention but see what sort of book or what subject gets picked up most often and then hone in on his passions.

[MerryAtHope]

My kids didn't often pick up books just for fun at this age, that happened more when they were older. Both love to read now. A scheduled reading time is helpful though, afternoon quiet time, or allowing him to extend his bedtime by 20-30 minutes by reading in bed is a great way to make reading seem like a privilege. My son used to read Calvin & Hobbes comic books at this age, LOL! But he liked more biographies and "real" stories too--he wasn't into reading fiction on his own, though he enjoyed when I read it to him.

 

Merry :-)

[Pen]

I'm in this slump with DS (7.5) He reads very well, has great comprehension, but almost never chooses to read an actual book on his own account. He loves reading about things of the real world, like articles from DH's technical journal type things. Or when my mom was in grad school he thought it was great to read her astronomy text LOL. Right now I assigned him a great Rohl Dahl book, and I think he likes it some. He is accelerated in several areas, but we try to structure our week so he's not overloaded any given day and make things as joyful as possible. It's not like we spend so many hours in a day that there is no time for lots of playing/free time AND reading.

 

Is this ok and normal? I admit to not having a "scheduled time for reading" each day. Maybe I should do that. I was thinking of re-doing our bookshelves again and put all of the kids books in baskets instead of trying to file anything, and then just have a 30 minute find and read whatever you want. I hear of all these kids who read hours a day and several hundred page novels and I'm like....:001_huh:, what's wrong with my kids? Does anyone have 7.5 year olds who still like to read Curious George to little sis or other short picture books?

 

ETA: I think it's that he is not interested in story books. Or maybe I just have not found the right ones. We always have a read aloud book going, and we read history and science material together as well.

 

4 suggestions:

 

1) try to find a series he might like and would get hooked on--for my son this was Magic Tree House which led into a lot of unit study non-fiction rabbit trails. My son especially liked the non fiction fact trackers. But in any case a series can be helpful (until you write to complain that your son won't read anything but the _____ series :D and you need to get him unhooked...)

 

2) try reading aloud to him from a book you think he might like, starting it, but then not finishing it, and leaving it where he can pick up and read it.

 

3) pick up a book you think he might like at library and read it silently to yourself, looking like you really enjoy it, laughing if it is a comedy etc., and hope he will take it from you to see for himself

 

4) recently my son asked to have bedtime later...I said yes, but the activities allowed between old bedtime and new are limited to reading in bed, drawing quietly and calmly, or writing ditto. If yours requests a later bedtime at some point you might try that with reading books being the thing allowed. I did this at least in part because these were all quiet down and settle down for the night activities, that I thought could be part of a good routine for all of life. (If he asked if he could practice a quiet, calming musical instrument during that time I would also allow that.) But it also has been helpful to add some time spent doing the allowed activities.

 

Finally, I think at your son's age pretty much any reading is fine, and if it is technical journals or cartoons you don't need to sweat it too much. Also I recommend the book The Book Whisperer to you. She was dealing with 5th graders, but I think the ideas would be helpful to you.

[lauracolumbus]

My son went through a phase where he only wanted to read non-fiction. He never got lost in a book. A librarian told me that there was nothing wrong in this as the vocabulary and subject matter in non-fiction was especially helpful on standardized tests.

 

He eventually found some series he liked--usually humor was a common denominator. He laughed throughout Jon Sciezka's (sp?) books--esp. his autobiography. He eventually got pulled into others such as 39 Clues, Roman Mysteries, etc. He now routinely reads fiction on his own.

 

One of the keys to getting him to read was to allow him to stay up later at night than he was supposed to. He felt like he was getting away with something.

 

We also listened to a ton of audio books in the car.

 

Laura

[brownie]

My oldest two are HUGE readers, but ds11 still reads alot of non-fiction. In the long run, he is more likely to have to read non-fiction for his career than fiction so I think it's great that he finds it interesting. Most kids don't. He's now pulling some of his choices from the adult section at the library. DS9 reads thousands of pages a week...all fiction. He's always got his head stuck in a book and you can't even get his attention.

 

Nonetheless, my almost 7 year old is only just developing a love of reading. He still picks easy readers most of the time...he doesn't have the endurance for a chapter book on his own yet. I've been having him read 3 pages of a Beverly Cleary book each day for school, and then I reward him by reading the rest of the chapter aloud. If I push it too hard, he'll just get more resistant and intimidated. I remember this stage with ds9 as well.

 

We also do read alouds. This month I read the younger 2 the entire Gregor the OVerlander series and we are on book 5 of Little House on the Prairie via audio book in the car. His interest is building gradually but he's definitely a run around, wrestle and play kind of kid so it's taking a bit longer.

 

Brownie