How much reading time do you assign to a reluctant 2nd grader?

[Tress]

My dd7 (second grade) reads on a 3th grade level, but she doesn't enjoy reading. (Yet! If I have my way :D.) She is a wiggly girl who would much rather run around or stand on her head.

 

She leant to read when she was 4yo, but I never required her to read daily, fearing that that would make her more resistant and also because I expected that she would start on her own just like her older sister did (dd9 is a bookworm). Halfway last year, 1st grade, when she had been able to read on a second grade level for more than 2 years but still wasn't reading regularly, I had enough and I started to require her to read 15 min (free choice of books) after lunch and 15 min of science books in the morning.

 

I'm now rereading WTM for 2nd grade and WTM recommends an hour of 'reading for fun' and 30 min of 'assigned reading', which corresponds with the history time period. Waaaaaaaaah.

 

I don't follow the 4-year history cycle, because there are no Dutch history books on a level that 1-4graders can read (the teaching of history starts later in the Netherlands) and also because I don't want to tie our literature to history. For 'assigned reading' I could assign good quality children's books. Fine.

But I have no idea how to get her to that amount of reading a day.

 

Do I just up the required time? I guess I'm afraid that will backfire and she won't like reading at all. My dd9 loves to read, I love to read, but my dh is a non-reader....so I'm a bit worried.

 

BTW, I do read alouds at bedtime, 'because she can't focus on listening during the day' (her own words, when she asked me to move our read alouds to the evening. In the evening she is tired and more able to sit still.)

[Arcadia]

My dd7 (second grade) reads on a 3th grade level, but she doesn't enjoy reading. (Yet! If I have my way :D.) She is a wiggly girl who would much rather run around or stand on her head.

 

Let her do her leisure reading while walking around the house or the backyard. I allow magazines like Odyssey, National Geographic (adults version) to count for leisure reading too.  My boys do an hour a day of leisure reading every day. Assigned reading is already part of their literature program.

[Tress]

Reading while walking!?!? I get motion sick even thinking about it :D.

 

But I will certainly see if she likes it. Thanks!

 

 

 

Anyone else?

[Ellie]

*I* would not assign reading to a 7yo, other than specific, subject-related selections, and then it would be a specific number of pages (not many), not for a specific amount of time.

 

I read aloud to my children from good children's books, the ones I wanted to be sure they experienced. Whether they read on their own or not was irrelevant to me, although I hoped they would enjoy reading on their own. And they did, but I believe part of the reason they did was that I did not push them to do so.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Hmmm.  I don't know if I have any advice.  My dd7 is not a reluctant reader, but she is a reluctant assignment-follower, if that makes sense?  I know that requiring more reading, like to the timer, would really backfire with her.  So I just want to honor that intuition you are having, it may be true!

 

All 3 of us read at the table at breakfast & lunch time.  After dd7 and I work together on math and writing in the mornings, she has two hours to entertain herself while I work with dd10.  She is allowed to watch docos/science videos, or to listen to an audio book.  I defnitely count that audio book time as reading.  After lunch, we do LOE, then she does her reading aloud to me - again, if I try and tell her what to read, she is really resistant, but if I say "choose a book from your box" she does it happily.  Then I read to her, usually both a lit book and some nonfiction.

 

I take her to the library frequently, and in the evenings she'll often read her library books, or I'll read them to her.  I don't count minutes.  Then at bedtime we all 3 do a read aloud.  

 

I guess what I'm getting as it that rather than worrying about the "30 min" and "1 hour" thing, I just try to keep an eye on the general trend - is reading happening every day?  Ok, good.  Some days it's more than others.  I just try to keep a handle on things that get in the way of her reading, and that's mostly screen time.  Otherwise, I don't dictate how she fills her free time, sometimes it is reading, sometimes it is listening to books, sometimes it's something else.  The more I try and tell her exactly what to do for how long, the more trouble I have.

[busymotherof4]

With my reluctant but bright 2nd grader I have been requiring 20 minutes a day. We plan to up it to 25 when we start school and 30 at Christmas. On his own he sometimes reads for longer than the required time. He also loves to listen to audio books. He loves it when I read aloud. We are only going to require this reading time until he learns to like reading. All of my children have gotten into trouble for reading instead of doing school work so I expect my son will get there either this year or next.

[MerryAtHope]

One thing I did when my kids were this age was to tell them that they could stay up an extra half hour at night if they wanted to read. They thought they were getting a great privilege, and it encouraged them to read more!

 

Fun things like comic or joke books, or books/magazines on things she's interested in might help. Kids love to get mail, so if you can have her receive a magazine or a book of the month club, that might encourage interest.

 

Really, she's young, and I wouldn't worry too much about it. 1.5 hours a day would have been a lot for my kids, I'm sure they didn't get that much in at 2nd grade (actually, mine were still learning to read at that age). When reading is work, it's not a lot of fun yet.  I'd just keep nudging her along, she'll get there!

Merry :-)

[MinivanMom]

We have a quiet time every afternoon where the choices are to read or rest.  They choose to read.  I don't assign books, but I make lots of interesting books available.  I'm a big believer in not assigning reading until after a child has become a passionate bookworm. 

[chelsmm]

I would probably do no more than 15 min required. My dd is almost 8, and she's reading at about grade level. She rarely wants to read for more than 15-25 min at a time to herself or out loud. She will listen to me read all day though! I don't want to push her too much.

 

Both of my kids are fidgety. DS often swings while I read to him ( swing is in the doorway of the living room). DD will play quietly nearby. But they both hear and retain every word. They actually retain more when they are moving. You might try having her swing or at during read aloud time. That might make it possible to read during the daytime as well.

[tjlcc]

I think you just described my oldest two kids.  I've had to let go a bit with my 8yo and accept the fact that sometimes he would rather draw during reading/rest time.

 

Geronimo Stilton graphic novels have also come home with us from the library. :leaving:

[My3girls]

My 7 and 8 year olds read a poem to me everyday of their choosing. We have at least one read aloud for history, math, and/ or science. Then every evening we do tandem reading where one of them will read a couple of paragraphs then I will then the other one. We typically do one chapter, but sometimes will divide a chapter into two readings if they are longer than 10 or so pages. I do not require them to read on their own. If they want to, I encourage it, and like someone else said they get to keep their light on for an extra 30 or so minutes if they read at bedtime. I was introduced to Laura Ingalls Wilder at this age by my mother and have had my nose in a book ever since. I'm really hoping that my girls will be the same. I have caught them on a few occasions reading unassigned books so we're headed in the right direction.

[Murrayshire]

This sounds like my ds, also a 2nd grader that thinks he doesn't have the time to sit and read.  He loves our read alouds at lunch & bedtime, which he usually is building something with magnets, legos, playing with Crazy Putty or coloring.  When we sit down in the morning to have our spelling, grammar, & writing lesson I then have him read his reader to me.  He probably reads 20-30 minutes.....we then do some sort of exercise with his book & he places it in his reading binder. (this will be a collection of activities that pulls in spelling words, grammar topics we are learning, drawing, handwriting, writing, etc.)  I find him more engaged with his book and reading when we do some sort of hands-on or wiggly activity with it.  

I also try to find what we are reading on Discovery Education b/c they have reading books on there that are read aloud to the child.  Ds loves that!  This year I let him choose some reading books of his liking.  So far he has chosen all of the Billy & Blaze books, Mr.Putter & Tabby, Magic Treehouse, and I've added in some history related DK level readers along with some level usborne chapter books.  In the afternoon, he reads to himself then reads that back to me or whomever is available to listen.  So he is getting at least an hour of reading if not more.    

[MissKNG]

I also have a super reluctant reader who is starting 2nd grade this coming year. This past summer, I told her she could stay up as long as she wanted at night but she needed to be reading. It worked! She reads every night and we keep a variety of books on her night stand. She probably stays up an extra hour to read and pops out every now and then asking for help with a word.

 

So I don't assign actual minutes of required reading. She will begin reading aloud to me again when we start our school year.

[Tanikit]

My DD is a bit younger than yours, but also reading at about a fluent 3rd grade level. ALL I do with her is put her to bed when I put my other DD to bed and let her stay up and read while I put the younger down and read stories to her. She may not get out of bed, but she doesn't have to read. Sometimes she jumps on the bed, sometimes she pages through the books, sometimes she will actually read them even though she cannot sit still while doing so. I am also hoping it will get better with time. After this time when the younger is asleep I go in and read to the older.

[RootAnn]

I've had three kids go through this age & all of them were reading at different levels & different amounts, so I don't think there is a hard & fast rule. My oldest is extremely active, but will sit with a book. Second is more sedentary, but didn't like reading until just over a year ago. Third is a cart-wheeler and not interested in sitting down with books much.

 

I do require my 2nd graders to read aloud to me for 15 minutes (can be you-read-a-page, they-read-a-page). This year, dd#3 can choose from any of the books I bring home as extras for science & history and pick just about any book from the library for free-read. I won't require a certain amount of reading other than the specific read-aloud time. By fourth, she'll hopefully be reading as part of our studies & have assigned extra lit/history/science reading.

 

I have found that each of my kids has picked up their reading amounts when they find something that really perks their interest. Dd#3 likes to read Mary Kate & Ashley  :ack2: books & anything about snakes.  :001_huh: 

[redsquirrel]

I have a kid who is a good reader, but would rather do anything else. I required 20 mins of reading a day in second grade. It will go up to 30 mins in third grade. Sometimes he can pick a book, sometimes I give him a choice between books. Mostly he picks it and I just support his choice. It has been a very good thing for him. He gained a lot of endurance and confidence. He surprised himself with how strong his reading actually was. It quickly became one of the favorite parts of his school day.

[Tress]

Hmmm.  I don't know if I have any advice.  My dd7 is not a reluctant reader, but she is a reluctant assignment-follower, if that makes sense?  I know that requiring more reading, like to the timer, would really backfire with her.  So I just want to honor that intuition you are having, it may be true!

 

That would be my dd9 :). I never assigned reading to her, because I knew that would backfire. But she went quickly from learning to read to reading for relaxation, and would read many many books a week, so I wasn't worried about her progress in reading.

 

 

[Tress]

My thought is even if you tell her to read for 30 minutes and she can't really focus for that period of time then she will probably spend a good deal of that time not reading anyway. 

 

That is my concern exactly. If I just up the assigned time, as WTM suggests, I expect she will just stare into space, and that is not a habit I want to encourage. At the moment she can handle 15 minutes twice a day fine, but I doubt she could do more.

 

With my reluctant but bright 2nd grader I have been requiring 20 minutes a day. We plan to up it to 25 when we start school and 30 at Christmas. On his own he sometimes reads for longer than the required time. He also loves to listen to audio books. He loves it when I read aloud. We are only going to require this reading time until he learns to like reading. All of my children have gotten into trouble for reading instead of doing school work so I expect my son will get there either this year or next.

 

I'm thinking of gently stretching the time like that, but will make sure not to overdo it :). It's good to hear from you and others (Ellie) that it might take a while, but that a reluctant kid can get to be a bookworm.

 

One thing I did when my kids were this age was to tell them that they could stay up an extra half hour at night if they wanted to read. They thought they were getting a great privilege, and it encouraged them to read more!

 

I tried that, because my oldest loves to read in bed, but dd7 is too tired at night. She is on the move the whole day and at bedtime she is asleep very fast. She often has trouble not falling asleep during our read aloud. It's like when you make her stop moving, she falls asleep. Same thing happens in the car :D.

 

Fun things like comic or joke books, or books/magazines on things she's interested in might help. Kids love to get mail, so if you can have her receive a magazine or a book of the month club, that might encourage interest.

 

She has a monthly animal magazine that she likes to read.

 

Really, she's young, and I wouldn't worry too much about it. 1.5 hours a day would have been a lot for my kids, I'm sure they didn't get that much in at 2nd grade (actually, mine were still learning to read at that age). When reading is work, it's not a lot of fun yet.  I'd just keep nudging her along, she'll get there!

 

Thank you for the reassurance!

 

Merry :-)

 

 

We have a quiet time every afternoon where the choices are to read or rest.  They choose to read.  I don't assign books, but I make lots of interesting books available.  I'm a big believer in not assigning reading until after a child has become a passionate bookworm. 

 

On the bolded, that was what I was thinking for the last two years. I was actually quiet nervous when I started to require daily reading time in February, but contrary to my fears, she was quiet content with it and I have seen much progress in her stamina. So that made me second guess myself and wonder if I should have followed WTM guidelines from the beginning.

[Tress]

I would probably do no more than 15 min required. My dd is almost 8, and she's reading at about grade level. She rarely wants to read for more than 15-25 min at a time to herself or out loud. She will listen to me read all day though! I don't want to push her too much.

 

Both of my kids are fidgety. DS often swings while I read to him ( swing is in the doorway of the living room). DD will play quietly nearby. But they both hear and retain every word. They actually retain more when they are moving. You might try having her swing or at during read aloud time. That might make it possible to read during the daytime as well.

 

I also have a 2yo, so reading aloud during the day is already difficult :D.

 

For my dd7 it doesn't matter if she moves or plays/draws when I read aloud, she still has trouble with it. I guess for her listening is difficult.

My dd9 and dd5 can sit for hours listening and give great narrations, while my dd7 gets confused easily. And with narrations she has to really, really think and search for words, and will be nowhere near the level of narration dd5 can give.

 

I've had three kids go through this age & all of them were reading at different levels & different amounts, so I don't think there is a hard & fast rule. My oldest is extremely active, but will sit with a book. Second is more sedentary, but didn't like reading until just over a year ago. Third is a cart-wheeler and not interested in sitting down with books much.

 

I do require my 2nd graders to read aloud to me for 15 minutes (can be you-read-a-page, they-read-a-page). This year, dd#3 can choose from any of the books I bring home as extras for science & history and pick just about any book from the library for free-read. I won't require a certain amount of reading other than the specific read-aloud time. By fourth, she'll hopefully be reading as part of our studies & have assigned extra lit/history/science reading.

 

I have found that each of my kids has picked up their reading amounts when they find something that really perks their interest. Dd#3 likes to read Mary Kate & Ashley  :ack2: books & anything about snakes.  :001_huh: 

 

She has recently started to get interested in horses and has requested some books about 'girls with horses', so you can bet I will keep the house *stuffed* with horse/pony/girl books :D.

 

I have a kid who is a good reader, but would rather do anything else. I required 20 mins of reading a day in second grade. It will go up to 30 mins in third grade. Sometimes he can pick a book, sometimes I give him a choice between books. Mostly he picks it and I just support his choice. It has been a very good thing for him. He gained a lot of endurance and confidence. He surprised himself with how strong his reading actually was. It quickly became one of the favorite parts of his school day.

 

I have seen the same confidence and gain in endurance with my dd7 the last few months. So required reading was a good thing.

 

Now I have to make sure not to overdo it. I can be a very type A ...let's add 5 minutes a week and get you to an hour and a half in two months ....which might not be the best idea right now :tongue_smilie: .

 

Thank you all for the reassurance that I don't have to follow WTM guidelines to the letter to get her to be a good reader!

[Arcadia]

 

She has recently started to get interested in horses and has requested some books about 'girls with horses', so you can bet I will keep the house *stuffed* with horse/pony/girl books :D.

...

Now I have to make sure not to overdo it. I can be a very type A ...let's add 5 minutes a week and get you to an hour and a half in two months ....which might not be the best idea right now :tongue_smilie: .

You might want to try the Saddle Club series. Horse books lists in links (fiction and non-fiction)

http://www.wylietexas.gov/departments/library/docs/Horses___Juv_Readers_Advisory_List.pdf

http://www.tempe.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=1752

 

I'm more of a type A. What we did was "dump" our kids in the children section of the library with a pile of books of their interest.  Then happily look for our own books to read.  Usually they will read most of the stack and look for more themselves. My boys know how to use the library catalog very well.

[Roadrunner]

We usually just read the next chapter. I have 30 minutes set aside for reading during school hours because I use this time to do individual work with kids (while one is reading, the other one is usually working on writing with me or discussing a book with me). However, we read more in the evening, so in a way reading time slot has dual purpose.