What do you do when your child would rather read?

[Halcyon]

This happens to me more and more lately. The boys know that if they get up before me (umm...always?) they can begin reading. When I get up, they are immersed in their books, which they can read at breakfast if they choose. After breakfast, usually around 9 am, we are to begin school. However, lately they want to continue reading. And reading. And reading. If I let them, they will read until 10:30 or 11. I am loathe to tell them to "Stop Reading!" :tongue_smilie: but really, we have other subjects. And if I tell them they can read after school, that doesn't really work, because after school, and all that focussed sitting, they prefer to run around outside, or we have activities.

 

What would you do?

[LinRTX]

I have a reader. I always see where she is in the book. Sometimes she can finish the chapter, sometimes the page, sometimes just the paragraph. Then it is on to our regularly scheduled activities.

 

For her, it has become an obedience issue. Since reading is a good thing (and she loves it), she uses it to get out of what she does not want to do.

 

The book will be there later or tomorrow. Sometimes other things have to be done now.

 

Linda

[....]

Yeah, this happens to us at least once a week. I just let them read. I try to underschedule, so if something like that happens, I don't panic. We have plenty of time (or so I tell myself).

 

Edited to say: When that happens, I use that time to work on something that Ineed to get done.

Edited May 15, 2012 by starrbuck12

[Coffeemama]

My three are exactly as you describe!:grouphug:It's hard, but I do tell them them to stop to come do their written work by 9:15 at the latest. It works better for my son if I can catch him before he starts reading (that sounds strange) and get him started on his grammar and math. He flies through his written work to get to read. On days that he reads from 8to 9 first, his other work seems to take so much longer. Reminding him of this does seem to help.;)

It's especially hard to do on a morning like this, when the peace and quiet, with them all so engrosed in their books, feels so wonderful!:grouphug:It's certainly not the worst problem to have.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

:lurk5:

Dd reads before school too. If school is about to begin I give her a notice to finish the chapter then report to her desk.

Dd reads. This is her thing. If I tell her to go play she goes to her room and reads. She takes books outside and reads if I send her out to play. I am getting to the worry stage because she reads so much she is not as active as she use to be. I have literaly told her no books unless you play outside for X amount of time.

[MissKNG]

Be thankful! My big girl can read but doesn't have an interest :confused:! It is like pulling teeth to have her read stuff.

[Harriet Vane]

We start when I say it's time to start.

 

I do allow them to finish a chapter or episode for a minute or two.

 

If they are at the end of the book I might allow a grand exception and let them finish.

[Mommyfaithe]

I have a reader. I always see where she is in the book. Sometimes she can finish the chapter, sometimes the page, sometimes just the paragraph. Then it is on to our regularly scheduled activities.

 

For her, it has become an obedience issue. Since reading is a good thing (and she loves it), she uses it to get out of what she does not want to do.

 

The book will be there later or tomorrow. Sometimes other things have to be done now.

 

Linda

 

:iagree: I was the same way. Reading was my opt out....and ummmmmmmm...OK...it still is :tongue_smilie: I would rather read than teach Math to a bunch of wiggly kids who would rather be playing....

 

 

So, we have a set amount of reading time in the morning...THEN, it is hit the books and we can get done with our planned work...

 

THEN...we can go back to our books .:D

[Virg]

My DS is the same way. I now see how annoying it must have been to raise me lol

[threebears]

If they are up before you they have probably had some good reading time already! It's hard because you want to let them go since reading is good!! I do think they also need to learn the discipline we adults face and that is to allow ourselves the activity for a time but then know we must get to the task of the other things we have for the day! I read in bed at night at sometimes have to tell myself to go to sleep otherwise I will be a tired mama the next day even though I love the freedom of no kids that time of day!!

[Jen500]

At your kids age, I made them stop reading for math and language arts, but not for other subjects. Especially because mine read a variety of books-fiction, science, history. I made a conscious decision to do this one day when I was getting ready to tell them to put down their science book to come do some textbook/workbooky science program with me. It just didn't make sense.

[Farrar]

Can you set it up so that they are making the decision about when to stop? We have daily tasks up that have to be finished and I find it helps my kids make decisions about when to stop building, reading, drawing, etc. and want to get to work - because they don't want it to be afternoon and have me on them about it making them finish.

[ErinE]

I took away the books. It sounds cruel, but it was getting to the point where ds was spending 3-4 hours reading and then refusing to do schoolwork because he'd already "read" for school.

 

First, I warned ds that attitudes needed to change. I told him that his reading was a good thing, but he was neglecting his schoolwork. He must do his other subjects and if he refused, he would lose free reading privileges and all the books currently in his room. Of course, he didn't comply and I followed through.

 

I removed all the books from his room and only allowed him to check out his reading when the rest of his schoolwork was done. Since it helps him get to sleep, I would allow reading at night, but I would take away the book once he had fallen asleep. It took 2-3 weeks for it to sink in that I was serious, but once he saw he could earn his reading back, he started working on his other subjects.

 

This summer I plan to do light school and give him free rein on reading. I had tentatively planned to move on in history and science, but I think I want to give him a period of time where he can pursue his interests and passions without my direction.

 

ETA: Once he earned back his books, I did give him a scheduled start to school, usually 8:00 or 8:30 so he could enjoy his reading before school.

Edited May 15, 2012 by ErinE

[CupOCoffee]

I've done a variety of things so I will probably not be of any help :tongue_smilie:

 

I've: 1) let her go on to finish the chapt., with reminders from me to stop; 2) if I have something that I could get done in the meantime, I will let her read -- I will say, "ok, keep reading till I am finished with ______" and I also need to give her a 5-min warning; 3) we've also had periods where NO reading is allowed till after all other work is done, because she would READ ALL DAY!!

 

This is also the child who blows through SL readers like there is no tomorrow! Schedule only 10 pages? Ha!

 

See, I told you I would be of no help. I guess it depends on the situation at the moment. Mostly, I'd let her read and enjoy another cup-o-coffee!

 

~coffee~

[TippyCanoe]

.

[missmoe]

At the ages of your kids, I let them read! And fit school into the time left in the day.

[RootAnn]

I'd give them a set time to stop. (I have one that would read for hours, then decide it was time to go play outside/with friends or siblings.)

 

Good luck! (It is both a great problem to have & a hard problem to solve. I hate to tell her to "stop reading" because I had one (child) that I really wanted to (like to) read. :-)

[Miss Tick]

"Stop reading." is one of the things that the "pre-kids" me could never imagine saying (that list just gets longer all the time.)

 

I've been known to be flexible at breakfast, but in general we have a no reading while you eat rule. So, at some point they stop reading to eat and then WHAM-O I'm watching like a hawk. :D When they are done and want to be excused I have them clear their place and then we start with math.

[mo2]

I would be delighted to have such a problem. :glare:

[mamaraby]

Will they read books if you suggest them? Is there a way that you can cover some of the material you want to in books they read themselves?

[Element]

I let her read. She was obviously learning so much, and pulling her away would have made what I wanted her to do pointless: she would have done it dutifully and politely but it wouldn't have registered or stuck. For me it wasn't an issue of obedience at all, because when we did do things I planned, she usually loved them and even asked to do them for fun at other times (we weren't workbooky people). So I worked around her reading. This meant we didn't have regular "school hours," but that was never important for me.

:iagree:This is exactly where I am with my ds right now. School still "gets done" without a fight, so I'm fine with it. If it were an obedience issue, though, I would probably feel differently.

[Cassy]

Mine are required to stop at 10 am to do math. My perspective is that, taken to its logical conclusion, non-stop reading would mean that nothing else would get done, and no learning would occur in subjects that I feel are crucial: math and writing. We find it difficult as it is to fit in all the subjects I try to cover, the only way we can achieve that is to stick to a reasonably strict routine. I also take the view that reading is one of life's great pleasures, and like any pleasure, should be indulged in moderation :tongue_smilie:.

 

Cassy

[Melodiya99]

I have one of these too! I'm so glad she loves to read, but I get concerned that it will effect her eyes, and I also think she needs to play. Maybe not allowing them to read at breakfast will help your problem..if breakfast time is somewhat flexible they can finish their chapter or whatever and then eat. Dd is always hungry in the morning, so she's glad to stop when it's time to eat, then getting out the math isn't so hard because she's not being asked to stop reading to do it.

 

Otherwise, she's only allowed to read during rest time (about 2 hours) and before bed (it was starting to be all day). She still gets 3-4 hours a day, and I think that's plenty. I also try to give her lots of history and science books (that's the bulk of what we do for those subjects), so I'm not stressed about fitting in a bunch of other stuff. I also was a huge reader as a child, and while I remember a ton of stuff I learned from books, I remember very little from school, so I'm hoping it will actually serve her well:)