Advice Re Interruptions

[happyWImom]

I spend a lot of time reading to dd & ds, and my dd CONSTANTLY interrupts! Usually it's because she wants to understand the definition of a word, sometimes it's a question about the story that would get answered eventually if she ever let me finish. I have tried telling her that she needs to not interrupt, that at storytime at the library she doesn't interrupt, etc... but then she says "How will I know what the word means, I need to know" if I tell her to wait until the end of the story then she says she'll forget. IT IS SO FRUSTRATING!!! I know it's good that she wants to learn, but it's to the point where I can't stand reading to them. Ds just sits quietly. Help!

[Marie in Oh]

til the end of the paragraph I am reading. I agree that if you wait til you are finished, they will forget. I know it is annoying and I have one who does this more than the others. Guess its good they are listening and tryign to learn. :D

[WTMindy]

til the end of the paragraph I am reading. I agree that if you wait til you are finished, they will forget. I know it is annoying and I have one who does this more than the others. Guess its good they are listening and tryign to learn. :D

 

My son used to be terrible at this and I know how frustrating it can be. I came up with a signal. If he started to interrupt mid-sentence I would hold my finger up (to signal him to wait) and keep going. I would continue reading to a logical break and then stop and ask him what his question was. Sometimes he answered it for himself and sometimes he still had the question.

 

I want my kids to ask questions while I read because that is how they learn. They are assimilating information and making connections. That is learning! But, it is frustrating. The signal thing worked very well for us and now that ds is 9.5 he doesn't interrupt nearly as much.

[Pink Fairy]

I have an interrupter who wouldn't let me read more than one or two sentences without asking me SEVERAL questions. My rule now is that he can ask any and all questions when I finish the page. He gets his need to ask met, and I get to keep my sanity.

 

BTW, one side benefit is that he forgets to ask *every* single question that he originally wanted to--most of which weren't all that relevent to what we were reading.

[Haiku]

My son used to do that. He would also pint out things that were going on around, such as what the cat was up to. I wanted to be this really open mom who answered all his questions and wasn't anal about how I read to the kids, but it got to the point where I was always angry when reading and my dd's experience was suffering because of my son's constant interruptions. I tried telling my son (4 at the time) that he had to wait until the end of the page to ask questions, but he didn't wait, so I simply started sending him from the room the first time he interrupted. I felt that it was important to develop his listening skills and that they weren't being developed by his 5+ interruptions every page.

 

After a few weeks he got the hint. Now he listens pretty well, although occasionally I have to remind him that he has to wait until the end of the page/story/chapter, etc., before he can ask questions.

 

Tara

 

Ps. The finger signal never worked for us. He would just push my finger down and keep talking. These days I frequently remind him, "Focus on what we are doing right now."

[Carol in Cal.]

I'm always stopping to ask whether DD understands the words in the story, or defining them, and DD is always saying that I should just keep going.

 

But, she has a great vocabulary, and that is why.

 

I'm in good company, too. Jennifer Steward teaches vocabulary through readalouds in the same way.

[WTMindy]

I'm always stopping to ask whether DD understands the words in the story, or defining them, and DD is always saying that I should just keep going.

 

But, she has a great vocabulary, and that is why.

 

I'm in good company, too. Jennifer Steward teaches vocabulary through readalouds in the same way.

 

For us it wasn't so much vocab questions, because I always stop to make sure they understand words I think they don't know. It was more just wondering types of questions and a constant stream of consciousness coming from his mouth.

[Carol in Cal.]

For us it wasn't so much vocab questions, because I always stop to make sure they understand words I think they don't know. It was more just wondering types of questions and a constant stream of consciousness coming from his mouth.

 

That would bug me, too.