alisoncooks Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 ...when do you find time to read them all!?! I feel like I'm drowning in library books! Without fail, the day before the books are due, I'm reading dozens of books so that we can return them the next day. (Yes, yes, I know we can renew.) Both of my girls are (for the most part) non-readers. And they LOVE-LOVE-LOVE checking out books. Lots of books. And they want them ALL read (translate: mommy reads). Sometimes more than once. Add that to the "school" reading that *I* have planned each week, and I start to feel a little overwhelmed. Do you limit the # you'll read to them? Limit the # they can check out? (Right now we have a "if you can carry it, you can check it out" limit. :p) I love books and I want to encourage this same exploration and pleasure in my girls.... but our current system is not working. ETA: And my oldest is into animals in a big way. One of the books she checked out this week was The Encyclopedia of N. American Animals (which clocks in at a whopping 384 pages.) And she wants us to READ THEM ALL! :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmin Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) I don't limit the book, but we (or rather, I) also don't read them all. Before we leave the library we go through what we have picked out just to make sure we need each book. When we bring the books home the kids know that after reading the books they need to be put back in our designated library bag, this really cuts down on misplaced books. We have two times a day when I always read aloud to them. I will read whatever books they ask during the alloyed time, we may not finish them though. I usually read a picture book when they ask, but if I am busy or we have something else to do, I will decline. My kids would love it if I read to them all day, but it isn't realistic and they have slowly learned that. Sometimes the older two will read to the smaller two, which helps a lot. Edited November 12, 2012 by Jazzmin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I read one chapter a day from a book of my choice, right after lunch. I might have read one shorter book to them, as well. That is all. The dc could read all they wanted on their own. I did not feel obligated to read all their library books to them, yes, even when they were "non-readers." We went to the library every week; they could check out as many books as they wanted to, but *all* books went back to the library the next week, whether they had been read or not. It was the only way I could avoid over-due fines, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 1. Either my husband or I read each child a story before bed, plus Bible reading. That takes care of a lot of the books. 2. Check out books with an audio CD in them to play during the day when you are busy. 3. The biggest thing that I did which helped was to teach all of my kids to read early. My youngest started learning to read when she was 3.5. By the time my last couple were in K, they could read chapter books by themselves. So working hard to increase their reading levels helps tremendously. Currently, there are times when we all sit around the living room reading our own books silently, including my K'er. That is rather enjoyable. Of course we will still read aloud to our kids as long as we can, hopefully even when they are teenagers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaughingCat Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 After lugging enormous bags of books back and forth too many times- I chose to limit the number of books (10 picture and 2 chapter if I remember right - but she could get more if she gave me a good reason). I did NOT read all of them ever - only the ones I was interested in or she requested I read. And I moved to having her carry her own books in her own bag (started by having her hold one handle). After she was carrying her own bag by herself, I relaxed my limitations - she could get whatever she could carry (no dragging allowed). However she still (years later) checks out far more books than she will actually read. DD3 has not shown this tendency (yet :lol:). She does love to carry her own bag of books though :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 We read as many as we have time to read, they were/are welcome to look at the rest. They all get returned when they are due regardless, unless it is a chapter book or something we are still working on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amie Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I started the bedtime story tradition when my oldest was a tiny baby. We read EVERY SINGLE NIGHT at bedtime. It was rare for us to skip (someone very sick, kids at grandparents...). We have read through many piles of library books this way...some multiple times. I usually read the longer read alouds at some point during the day. Evenings are for picture/story books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 At our local library, they limit the number of books that a family/household can check out to 15. (As homeschoolers, we get 25, thankfully.) Anyway, that limits those. However, we also have a Big City library that we pay to be a part of. They can have 25 books per person checked out of that one at a time. While we usually don't hit that ceiling, we always have LOTS of library books out. We do something similar to other posters. If the kids don't have an activity that night & get ready for bed quickly enough, I can read one picture book for each of the smaller two (non-reading) kids & a chapter from a chapter book for the middle two (reading) kids. I usually don't get to a chapter from oldest's book. If we are out for an activity (gymnastics, karate), I usually pick a picture book to read or read 2-3 chapters of a book of my choosing. I'm lucky to also have older kids to read aloud to the youngers, so some of the books are read (or reread) by them. My dd#2 really picked up for my slack on reading aloud to the youngers this summer. :001_wub: On the bigger non-fiction books (like the Encyclopedia one), I'd read a page or two, but just allow it to be a "look at" book. .... And for the one poster who said she taught her kids to read early, I'd like to point out that some of us TRIED that, but not all kids learn to read early just because mom's trying to teach them to read early. (My oldest didn't read fluently until after she turned 7 & dd#2 was close to 9.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I don't read them all. THe kids take out a ton from the time they were 12 months on and they just look through them at the pictures and come up with their own stories. I read 1-2 a day even if it meant 25 were not read before being returned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 The library books you check out are not a to do list. They're like a mini-library you bring home. And then, when you go back, you get another mini-library. No rush to read them all. This reminds me of how dh used to say that the books on the shelf he hadn't read were mocking him. Really, they're not! They're just books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I read my dd2 2 picture books at bedtime and a chapter or two to my olders after. Usually I pick out the picture books. Generally everyone listens to all of them. I'll read the occasional book during the day if I have time. Sometimes I hear the olders reading to the youngest. She only wants that when *she* wants it, though. I carry her books and my books (including most books we check out for school) which helps me limit the number we bring home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 We usually come home with about 20 or so books. I read the picture books to the little ones. The bigger books, they can just look at pictures. I won't read an encyclopedia. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 The library books you check out are not a to do list. They're like a mini-library you bring home. And then, when you go back, you get another mini-library. No rush to read them all. This reminds me of how dh used to say that the books on the shelf he hadn't read were mocking him. Really, they're not! They're just books! :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lots of boys Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 ...when do you find time to read them all!?! I feel like I'm drowning in library books! Without fail, the day before the books are due, I'm reading dozens of books so that we can return them the next day. (Yes, yes, I know we can renew.) Both of my girls are (for the most part) non-readers. And they LOVE-LOVE-LOVE checking out books. Lots of books. And they want them ALL read (translate: mommy reads). Sometimes more than once. Add that to the "school" reading that *I* have planned each week, and I start to feel a little overwhelmed. Do you limit the # you'll read to them? Limit the # they can check out? (Right now we have a "if you can carry it, you can check it out" limit. :p) I love books and I want to encourage this same exploration and pleasure in my girls.... but our current system is not working. ETA: And my oldest is into animals in a big way. One of the books she checked out this week was The Encyclopedia of N. American Animals (which clocks in at a whopping 384 pages.) And she wants us to READ THEM ALL! :glare: Your message made me laugh. My boys are very similar. My oldest can read and my middle one is getting there but we still get WAY too many books each week and I feel like I scramble to get them read some weeks. I try to remember that there is no harm in taking some back that didn't get read :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jpoy85 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 we have a limit- you can check out the number of books by your age. 6yr old gets 6 books, etc. It can be any book, magazine, movie but it cant go over the limit. That way i dont get overwhelmed. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 We went to the library every week; they could check out as many books as they wanted to, but *all* books went back to the library the next week, whether they had been read or not. It was the only way I could avoid over-due fines, lol. I think I may need to institute a system like this. I am the main offender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I don't carry the library books any longer. Now I put them all in my homeschool convention cart with wheels. That has been one of my most brilliant decisions ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatholicMom Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I only let them check out as many books as I think we can reasonably read. Maybe 2 picture books per kid and they just read them over and over if they really like them. It's better than the disappointment of not having read a book they picked out before we take them back. I also think it is very edifying for kids to read the same book over and over and really absorb it. For my 8 and 9 year olds, I have let them take out 7 books at once because they were into a series and reading a book a day. Of course, if it's a big fat illustrated encyclopedia type of book I might read a bit of it but they just look at it on their own and I don't expect to finish it before we take it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearcat Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Let me start by explaining that we visit 2 library systems twice a week. Between my personal cards at both, my teacher cards at both and the card my kids have we can conceivably have 300 items checked out at once. While we have never hit that limit, I won't say we haven't come close. I have always and will always read pretty much anything my kids want me to and will do so for hours a day. (I do refuse to read any "character" books like Disney, or other movie related books. :tongue_smilie: If my kids really want them read I will delegate those to my husband.) We will keep books until they are due and if there is a book my kids just love we will renew it until we max out our renewals. Rare is it when a book is returned unread. Before I even had a thought towards homeschooling we would read, read, read. We would go to the library, come home with a towering stack of books and sit together for the afternoon reading. Right now only my oldest can read so most of the books we check out are still read-a-loud by me. Today I think I read 8 picture books and about 30 pages from a chapter book. That is low because Monday is errand day so we are away form home more and therefore have less time for reading a-loud. My son does read while we are running errands and the other two bring along a bag of books to look at. So, long answer short, no. I put no limits on the number of books they can check out or the number of books I will read to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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