Read-Alouds with multiple ages

[TKDmom]

For those of you who have a big range of ages in your family, how do you handle read-alouds? Do you have multiple read-alouds for different age groups? Alternate books for different ages?

 

I tend to have multiple read-alouds for each child (thank you AO :svengo:) but I'm ready to consolidate. DH likes to read aloud to the family, but nearly all of his picks are geared towards oldest dd. He spent several months reading LOTR and ds (then 6 or 7) kept asking, "Where is Bilbo?" He'd fall asleep listening almost every night and never figured out that Bilbo's story was done.

 

I need ideas on how to find a happy medium.

[HS Mom in NC]

My girls are now 18,16 and 8.  We did some read alouds for all of them.  If you allow your children to play quietly while you read aloud you open up more possibilities-if the littles tune in and out they're kept occupied. They're also more motivated to listen if discussing the book is normal at meals and other family time.

 

We've done a little  Mark Twain, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Ursula Leguin (sp?) and Madeline L'Engle (sp?)  and some Shannon Hale for everyone.  Don't underestimate the value of rereading the same book at different stages of childhood and even into adulthood.  A great book is a great book and appealing at any age, but often, different elements are more appealing at different stages.

We're only homeschooling the youngest and the older two are in career training and college, but are still sometimes sitting in on dad reading Tolkien to the youngest for their favorite parts.   He's read it aloud to them at least 5 times over the last 14 years and they still get something out of it each time.

Asking the older ones what their favorite books were when they were younger so you can read them to the younger kids might be an option.  Letting the kids take turns choosing the next genre might help.

[rwjx2khsmj]

I read to everyone at once. We all love a good story. Some authors we've all enjoyed are Christopher Paul Curtis, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Brian Jacques, Jeanne Birdsall, Trenton Lee Stewart, Roald Dahl, Jules Vern, Louis Sachar, and Frances Hodgson Burnett.  I'm sure there are others but that's a start.

[Chelli]

I have separate read alouds going for each of my kids. We do them at lunch (Lit for Lunch). I read a picture book and one chapter of a chapter book from dd6's list, then she is free to leave the table if she's done eating or stay and finish her lunch. Then I read one chapter of dd10's chapter book. It takes about 30 minutes to do all of that. I limit it to one chapter because I don't want to be reading all afternoon! If the chapter is very long, I will split it into two readings (I'm looking at you Ramona and Beezus!). If the chapters are really short, then I might read two at one sitting, but generally, it's one chapter.

 

I also rotate audio books in the car. Right now we're listening to Holes for dd10 (although dd6 has been way into it!). Before Holes we listened to The Mouse and the Motorcycle for dd6.

[Kidlit]

My hat's off to all you readers-aloud to more than one child at a time! I'm trying to do that now (plus reading a together book), and it is taking for. ever. to get through the separate reads.

[mamaraby]

We have one main read aloud for the family. I may read other books aloud through out the day for different subjects (and usually for those who are not yet reading on their own), but they're entirely separate.

[TKDmom]

We've done a little  Mark Twain, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Ursula Leguin (sp?) and Madeline L'Engle (sp?)  and some Shannon Hale for everyone.  Don't underestimate the value of rereading the same book at different stages of childhood and even into adulthood.  A great book is a great book and appealing at any age, but often, different elements are more appealing at different stages.

We're only homeschooling the youngest and the older two are in career training and college, but are still sometimes sitting in on dad reading Tolkien to the youngest for their favorite parts.   He's read it aloud to them at least 5 times over the last 14 years and they still get something out of it each time.

 

Asking the older ones what their favorite books were when they were younger so you can read them to the younger kids might be an option.  Letting the kids take turns choosing the next genre might help.

 

What a great point. I'm reading a Wind in the Willows to ds8 right now. We just started last week, and ds10 walked in and perched himself on the couch with, "Oh, are you reading Wind in the Willows?" I read it to ds10 last year and dd12 listened in. But they are both positioning themselves to listen in to it again. I will often find those two re-reading books that dh read to them years ago. It exasperates dh to no end, but I remember reading and re-reading books throughout my childhood and noticing new things each time. It was like talking to an old friend.

[TKDmom]

We have one main read aloud for the family. I may read other books aloud through out the day for different subjects (and usually for those who are not yet reading on their own), but they're entirely separate.

 

Yes, I think I'd like to do this. AO has you reading 3 or 4 literature books at once for each child (in addition to other subjects like history and science). That way the books are read once or twice a week and spread out over a full term or more. I miss reading through the same book all together for just a few weeks. I think my biggest challenge will be picking just one book at a time. So many books, so little time.... ;)

[Chelli]

Yes, I think I'd like to do this. AO has you reading 3 or 4 literature books at once for each child (in addition to other subjects like history and science). That way the books are read once or twice a week and spread out over a full term or more. I miss reading through the same book all together for just a few weeks. I think my biggest challenge will be picking just one book at a time. So many books, so little time.... ;)

 

That's a lot of literature! The most I read aloud at a time are three books, a picture book and chapter book to dd6 and a chapter book to dd10. That's it. I do read other literature, history and science to them, but it's during their school time with me.

[Alice]

I do a separate book for each child at night. In reality, the boys often listen to each other's books as they share a room. However, they have different tastes and are 3 years apart so the kinds of books they want are sometimes different. At lunch we have a read-aloud that is more appropriate for the whole family. We've done most of the Little House series, the Moffat series, some Narnia, Ginger Pye and Pinky Pye during lunch. We also might read a more school-related book at lunch as the lunch read-aloud. Currently it's Black Ships Before Troy. Since it's lunch time the 4 year old listens as she wants but is also eating. 

 

We do other reading at various times (picture books, science, history). I try and have teatime at least twice a week, sometimes it's 3 times and on those days we read a big stack at teatime, sometimes poetry. 

[texasmama]

I have multiple read alouds at once, and all three kids listen in. Most are geared toward my older boys. Littlest dd listens, too, though. She enjoys them as much as the boys. She heard Great Expectations at the age of 7. She is listening to Lord of the Flies currently and asks about Piggy. :) I read selections from My Book House, Aesop's Fables, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Classic Poetry and two or three literature books. Currently, our lit books are Lord of the Flies, The Twenty One Balloons and Nory Ryan's Song. I keep the selections varied so there is something for everyone. My dd really seems to enjoy my boys' read alouds, though, and her vocabulary is impressive due to listening to the read alouds and to her own voracious reading.

 

As an aside, I have read aloud Charlotte's Web three times, and I cry so hard I cannot continue at the end when she dies. I have to stop and compose myself multiple times. Every single time.

[SeaConquest]

As an aside, I have read aloud Charlotte's Web three times, and I cry so hard I cannot continue at the end when she dies. I have to stop and compose myself multiple times. Every single time.

I'm right there with you. I read it with my older son last month and was a blubbering mess. Again.

[TKDmom]

I have multiple read alouds at once, and all three kids listen in. Most are geared toward my older boys. Littlest dd listens, too, though. She enjoys them as much as the boys. She heard Great Expectations at the age of 7. She is listening to Lord of the Flies currently and asks about Piggy. :) I read selections from My Book House, Aesop's Fables, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Classic Poetry and two or three literature books. Currently, our lit books are Lord of the Flies, The Twenty One Balloons and Nory Ryan's Song. I keep the selections varied so there is something for everyone. My dd really seems to enjoy my boys' read alouds, though, and her vocabulary is impressive due to listening to the read alouds and to her own voracious reading.

 

As an aside, I have read aloud Charlotte's Web three times, and I cry so hard I cannot continue at the end when she dies. I have to stop and compose myself multiple times. Every single time.

Do you plan to return to some of these books for your dd? My dd4 sleeps in the same room as her older brothers right now, and listens in when I read to them at bedtime. When I was reading Water Babies, she begged for it every night. But I'm pretty sure she doesn't understand a whole lot. She just likes me to lay in her bed and read.

 

Then again, who knows? I read her Snow White tonight, and she interrupted me soon after Snow White arrived at the dwarfs' house, and told me to skip to the end, because she didn't want to hear the scary part. :)

[texasmama]

Do you plan to return to some of these books for your dd? My dd4 sleeps in the same room as her older brothers right now, and listens in when I read to them at bedtime. When I was reading Water Babies, she begged for it every night. But I'm pretty sure she doesn't understand a whole lot. She just likes me to lay in her bed and read.

 

Then again, who knows? I read her Snow White tonight, and she interrupted me soon after Snow White arrived at the dwarfs' house, and told me to skip to the end, because she didn't want to hear the scary part. :)

Good question. I will likely choose a slightly different set of read alouds for dd. Anne of Green Gables rather than Lord of the Flies. :) I like that she is being exposed to a wider body of literature because she has two older brothers.

[TKDmom]

I'm right there with you. I read it with my older son last month and was a blubbering mess. Again.

Yes. There are so many books, where my voice starts to wobble, and my kids look at me like ??

[texasmama]

I'm right there with you. I read it with my older son last month and was a blubbering mess. Again.

Yeah. It's not like the ending is a surprise. ;)

[texasmama]

Yes. There are so many books, where my voice starts to wobble, and my kids look at me like ??

My kids make fun of me! I kept saying, "But she dies!" And then I broke down in tears. Lol

[Kidlit]

It's a rare read-aloud that DOESN'T make me get wobble-voiced and teary. I'm a sap.

[Kidlit]

My dd really seems to enjoy my boys' read alouds, though, and her vocabulary is impressive due to listening to the read alouds and to her own voracious reading.

 

 

I'm currently reading The Black Cauldron aloud, and my 3 year old asked if Eilonwy is on the cover of our book. (I don't know what was more surprising--that he knew enough to realize she's a girl or that he pronounced her name correctly.). It never ceases to amaze me that the little ones are actually listening. You'd think by now I'd know it. ;-)

[texasmama]

I might have to send dd to practice piano when it goes downhill for Piggy in Lord of the Flies. (scared smiley here)

[NancyNellen]

We much prefer a family read-aloud time. My kids are 16, 15, 13, 10 & 7. I alternate in difficulty and intensity...LM Montgomery, Perrault's fairy tales, selections from My Book House, Twain, Tanglewood Tales (Hawthorne), Burgess, Melville and Poe. I prefer one read aloud a day so that we can read for a longer period (typically an hour or so.) Also, it makes for wonderful family time. As a previous poster said, my olders love watching their younger siblings enjoy an old favorite for the first time.

 

We do other read alouds for different subjects throughout the day individually or in groups, but our family read aloud time is precious to us all.

[sagira]

My kids are 10, 6, and 3. I tend to have read-alouds separately for the older two, but both older kids enjoyed The Secret Garden very much, and I think even little dd3 did :)

 

That said, ds10 should be at a higher level than dd6 can be comfortable listening to and comprehending, hence the separation. So I guess the answer is, separate mostly, but we also come together.

 

[happypamama]

I kind of vary it. I read picture books to the little boys, but other readalouds may or may not be geared toward the littles. We read Mr. Popper's Penguins a few months ago, and the little boys loved it. The big kids enjoyed it, too, even though it wasn't much of a challenge for them. And sometimes we read things that are too much for the little boys; then, we either allow them to go play somewhere else if they're not up to listening (or if DH is home, one of us will read with the little boys, or take them up to bed), or we stop a lot to explain things to them. When the big kids (now 9 and almost 12) were about 4 and 7, DH read them The Hobbit, and he read (the full, unabridged version) them Treasure Island a year or so later. They both loved them, but DH did stop to explain things a lot, and that was okay -- because DH was so interested in the stories, the kids picked up on his enthusiasm and love the books too.

[TKDmom]

We much prefer a family read-aloud time. My kids are 16, 15, 13, 10 & 7. I alternate in difficulty and intensity...LM Montgomery, Perrault's fairy tales, selections from My Book House, Twain, Tanglewood Tales (Hawthorne), Burgess, Melville and Poe. I prefer one read aloud a day so that we can read for a longer period (typically an hour or so.) Also, it makes for wonderful family time. As a previous poster said, my olders love watching their younger siblings enjoy an old favorite for the first time.

 

We do other read alouds for different subjects throughout the day individually or in groups, but our family read aloud time is precious to us all.

 

Ok, I keep reading about My Book House. This right? What are they exactly? It looks like an anthology of children's classics? What sorts of stories does it have?

[4KookieKids]

We do both. My oldest still likes to listen to the easier books all the time when we're all cuddling on the couch, and *most* of the time when it's cuddle time, so long as he's allowed to play legos or something else at the same time.

 

But when we introduced longer books for him, my 2 yo didn't want to be left out, and she will sit through an entire Magic Tree house book in one sitting (which was quite the surprise to us!).

[boscopup]

I try to aim for something that's enjoyable by the older two kids (9 and 7). The 4 year old tags along or falls asleep - we read at bedtime. ;) I'm not worried about the 4 year old missing books that I've read aloud when he's so young. As well as he's reading now and as much as he's wanting to read more, I'll be feeding him all those books to satisfy his reading-on-his-own appetite (much like his oldest brother, who just about every day is asking me to check out another book for his Kindle).

 

Before the youngest was ready to sit through longer books, I read him picture books at bedtime and then read a separate book to the older two. But I can't even remember the last time we did that... it might have been a couple years by now! The youngest has listened to the Narnia series, the How to Train Your Dragon series, and other such things. He has liked all of those (and sometimes fallen asleep :D ).

[Momofeat]

We usually have one read aloud for everybody that I read very faithfully almost every day.

 

Then we all read a lot to ds(8). He cannot read well enough to read chapter books to himself yet. My oldest dd(14) is reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to him, just because she wanted to share it with him. (Melt my heart!) Dd(11) usually reads a history book to him for about 20 minutes a day, and I read anything else that needs to be read, or I listen to him read for another 30 minutes. 

 

I try to keep a read aloud for each of the other girls going, too, but I read those here and there. It usually takes several months to work through their books. I would like to read more to them, esp. dd(11), but right now ds must have his books read to him, while the girls are capable of reading their books on their own.

[LindaOz]

We much prefer a family read-aloud time. My kids are 16, 15, 13, 10 & 7. I alternate in difficulty and intensity...LM Montgomery, Perrault's fairy tales, selections from My Book House, Twain, Tanglewood Tales (Hawthorne), Burgess, Melville and Poe. I prefer one read aloud a day so that we can read for a longer period (typically an hour or so.) Also, it makes for wonderful family time. As a previous poster said, my olders love watching their younger siblings enjoy an old favorite for the first time.

 

We do other read alouds for different subjects throughout the day individually or in groups, but our family read aloud time is precious to us all.

Yes. Agree with this. We have family read-aloud time - sometimes twice a day. I tell my kids that a book worth reading is worth reading again. And it's true! Even my older kids enjoy classics again and again. We've recently been reading some of the later Little House books and enjoying them again.

 

Biographies are another good read-aloud for a wide age. We recently read a bio of Isaac Newton in the evening when dh was involved. He is not a big reader and didn't grow up hearing this sort of thing so it was new even to him.

 

Our after lunch read aloud tends to be something geared more towards my 11 and 9 year olds but the olders stills generally enjoy it. We are reading School Story atm but the older kids still ask for it so it's all good.

[MistyMountain]

My kids all have very different taste in what they want to read. I pick one chapter book I read to all 3 but I pick something both my older two will enjoy and let the little just listen in even though she probably isn't getting much from it yet. During reading time at night we divide and conquer. If my husband is home he will read to either my younger two or my older one or my oldest will read to one of us. If it is just me I have my oldest read herself while I read to the younger two. Sometimes they listen to the same book and other times they have their own ideas about what they want to read and we take turns.