lovinmyboys Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I know I am stressing about something silly, but I am having a hard time choosing how to spend our read aloud time. There is so much to read and limited time. I have a 3, 5, and 6 yr old and I usually read to them together at least an hour a day, but it just isn't enough time to get through everything I want. I want to read poetry, non fiction (including science, biographies, math, history), classic picture books, chapter books, myths, fairy and folk tales, clasic stories (little red hen, goldilocks), and also some fun and new picture books (we really liked some of the caldecott honor books this year). So, how do you prioritize? Good picture books, chapter books, poetry, non fiction? Here is a sample of what I have out from the library now: Brer Rabbit treasury 2 Beatrix potter books Little house in the big woods Tales from the oddyssey by Mary pope Osborne Hamlet adapted by Bruce coville Extra yarn (caldecott honor book this year) Biography about dr Seuss Now we are 6 by Milne Trickster tales from Africa Corduroy And about 100 other books..I get stressed thinking of everything I don't get read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
three4me Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 We do picture books and our Sonlight read-alouds throughout the day, chapter books during lunch (after I'm done but the kids are still eating) and at bedtime. When we're in between chapter books I like to read some poetry a for a few nights at bedtime. It works for us :) I know I'll never be able to read aloud everything I want to, but we keep at it and read a fair amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Whether a book has "chapters" or not is irrelevant to me. I assume that older children will read longer books, although they will still enjoy shorter ones. :-) Otherwise, if you own the books, put them in a cute basket, close your eyes, and pick one. And if your dc choose any of them on their own, let them. I read aloud to my dc right after lunch, one chapter a day (or the whole book, if it were shorter, or as much of it as we could all bear, lol). I wanted all of us to be as wide awake as possible, not dozing off because it was bedtime, KWIM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 We have two shelves of quality picture books, and I tell the kids, "It's reading time. Go pick out two books each." Then my 4yo and 6yo each bring me 10 books (they are a little behind in math I guess), we crawl into my bed (4yo on one side, 6yo on the other, and 2yo in my lap), and we start reading. I don't stress. I don't have an objective other than to enjoy some quality books my little people. I don't even bring home new picture books from the library. We have about 200 quality picture books on our shelves so I don't see a need to go get more. They will have plenty of history and science and everything else when they are older. They don't have to be exposed to everything this year. KWIM? My older two don't even remember some of the books I read aloud from three years ago, so I'm not going to stress about what my 6yo isn't getting exposed to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondchen Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 We have two shelves of quality picture books, and I tell the kids, "It's reading time. Go pick out two books each." Then my 4yo and 6yo each bring me 10 books (they are a little behind in math I guess), we crawl into my bed (4yo on one side, 6yo on the other, and 2yo in my lap), and we start reading. I don't stress. I don't have an objective other than to enjoy some quality books with my little people. I don't even bring home new picture books from the library. We have about 200 quality picture books on our shelves so I don't see a need to go get more. They will have plenty of history and science and everything else when they are older. They don't have to be exposed to everything this year. KWIM? My older two don't even remember some of the books I read aloud from three years ago, so I'm not going to stress about what my 6yo isn't getting exposed to. This is exactly what I do - just say it's reading time and let them choose a few books. If all they have to choose from is quality literature (whether they're library books or ones we own) then it doesn't matter to me which ones, or if they choose the same ones over and over. It's actually wonderful to see my kids falling in love with particular books and reading them a zillion times. I've read Pride and Prejudice about 20 times (I'm not exaggerating...LOL!) I also agree that we'll get to history and science later. Right now I'm not concerned about content at all - just quality, enjoyable literature to encourage a love of reading and an appreciation for the beauty of good illustration. DH and I love books and are thoroughly enjoying sharing that love with our kids - we both read to them every day and it's a wonderful thing for our family. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stm4him Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 I really need to read to mine more but I use a combined list of classic picture books from A Thomas Jefferson Education and Teaching the Classics. I read them one picture book from this list, Mother Goose, and a Bible story (my K'er also has a more advanced one). I have planned out which literature I want them to read for school from K-6th grade and I have a ton of living books in all subjects on our shelves like a library and they are allowed to read anything on the weekly topics I give them. They just have a timed amount of about an hour total between literature, historical fiction, and non-fiction. In the younger years I don't stress too much about it because once they can read they will take off! They can get through a lot of picture books quickly once they can read. I just fill my house with books and focus on reading instruction and know that they will read (or have been read) plenty of high quality books before graduation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmyboys Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Thanks for the replies. I used to just enjoy it and read for fun (and read the same book 100 times), but lately I started seeing all these lists of books and feeling like I needed to be reading more or different things. It started becoming like a checklist, but the to read list just kept getting longer. I read to them tonight and we each picked a book and it was really relaxing. I'm sure in five years I will look back and not believe that I actually stressed about what to read a 5yo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nart Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 I was just thinking the same thing. Maybe I should have a game plan for my 4 and 6 year olds before time flies by and they move out of the picture book stage. Right now I try to do a longer chapter book above the 6 year olds reading level. Then read a couple nonfiction books and a couple of fiction ones. So at bedtime tonight I read Little House in the Big Woods. My husband read a nonfiction predator book and a couple of fiction picture books. This thread has reminded me that I have been meaning to go on the library to borrow whatever Caldecott winners are available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 I am trying to embrace a few CM ideas when it comes to reading to kids: - Young kids are just fine with having a handful of books read over and over to them. They LIKE the repetition, it is comforting to them, and if the books are well-chosen, it's not a problem. For my pre-Ker, we are using the book pack for BFIAR, and she loves them all and we just read whichever she chooses and don't really do the BFAIR activities. My oldest usually listens in too. - For my older, we have a book that sort of matches history that we read a bit per day- right now it's D'Aulaire's Greek Myths. We have a classic children's book that we read a chapter a day or two- right now it's Winnie The Pooh. And I try to read a nicely illustrated fairy tale at least once a week. - We are doing "Poetry Tea" Ã la Bravewritiera couple times a week, and we choose one of these to memorize every couple of weeks. (Tea time is sort of an established meal here where we live, so it was easy to just add int he poetry.) - We read from our Let's Read and Find Out science books whenever the mood strikes or a kid has a question that can be answered by a book. I cut corners by... - Using SOTW audio CDs, Egypt and Her Neighbors audio CD (Simply Charlotte Mason), On the Shores of the Great Sea audio (librivox) - all for history - I've gotten a few books that I find tricky to read (namely, Just So Stories) on audio CD as well, and also some of the Jim Weiss myths and legends type CDs. Just some ideas! ETA: So it looks like this on a daily basis: BFAIR book 1 chapter or so from history-linked read-aloud 1 chapter or so from classic children's literature Plus, once a week: - a fairy tale picture book - poetry - science book Delegated to audiobook- Most history readings, which my son loves to listen to and therefore listens to multiple times per week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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