Tell me about what you do for independent reading time (and keeping kids accountable)

[DesertBlossom]

Do you have them write down how much they read each day? Do you ask them to tell you about the story?  Also, do you assign certain books? Either a certain number of pages or chapters?

 

...

 

Just thinking about my 7 and 8 year old. My 8yo DS can be a voracious reader when he finds something he really likes. Sometimes he needs some motivating. And sometimes I've caught him telling me that he's read his required 30 minutes when he really hasn't. 

 

And my 7yo just seems to be taking forever to get through one chapter book and I wonder about how much she's reading and understanding. She does read a lot here and there from other books around the house, but I wonder how much I should be assigning her to read. One chapter books shouldn't be taking this long! Or maybe I should just be letting her read whatever she wants.

 

I also have a 6, 4 a 1 year old, so easy to implement ideas would be awesome. Thanks. :)

[Ellie]

I never required my dc to read. I didn't ask them about what they were reading. I didn't assign books.

 

It would especially not occur to me to do those things with children as young as yours.

 

I wanted my dc to love to read; seems to me that requiring them to read and all that would be counterproductive.

[Melissa B]

For my K-5 kids, I use Book It. I assign a certain number of books per month depending on their reading level. This year dd 10 and ds 9 must read 4 books each per month which they choose off the Mensa reading list. Free pizza and book challenges (such as the Mensa Reading Program, B&N summer reading challenge, library reading challenges) have proven to be good motivators in this house year after year. Both kids have already chosen the first book they will read for Book It, which begins October 1st. :)

 

 

[sewingmama]

Basically I require my kids to read 30 minutes a day and really the requirement is more just to remind them to read then something set in stone. They like to read but are very active and would rather just play. I let them read whatever they like. If I see them reading something for a decent amount of time then I don't worry if its less then 30 mins. If DS comes to me and says he read a chapter and is done reading and it only took him 15 minutes then I just let him go if he doesn't want to read more. I don't force reading... its not meant to be a chore or schoolwork.

 

If I thought a child was struggling I would sit with them while they read and read with them to see where they were having trouble. I wouldn't just assign them more books and more reading time and let them struggle on alone.

 

At 7 my kids were still building up reading stamina. My DD started to read a lot more and faster at about 7.5 and DS just turned 7 and is starting to read a little more and faster too. So if your DD just seems to be slow without other issues..then don't worry ...if she enjoys reading she will get faster with more practice. I don't test my kids...I maybe ask how they enjoyed it or what it was about.

[pitterpatter]

I just started requiring my DD who is seven to read on her own time. Well, a couple of months ago anyway. I was having to remind her all of the time and she was trying to read out loud to me, which was okay to get her going, but I wanted her to silent read. We've transitioned into having her silent read during lunch while she eats. This is what I do sometimes during lunch and dinner. At first, I required her to only read a chapter. Now, she's willing to read two. I'm happy with that. She's come to enjoy reading during lunch, but doesn't want to do it any other time of day. Not out of her lunch book anyway. She reads picture and easy nonfiction books when she's in the mood. She usually has books spread all around by the end of day. She's funny. Even though she really likes her lunch books, she won't read them, except during lunch. I guess because it's required and not really on her own terms.

I only require reading Monday through Friday. And, only books she's excited about and wants to read. Her reading has greatly improved in the past couple of months. I generally just have her rattle off a few things she's read. I don't make it sound like I'm testing her. I make it sound like I'm interested in the book too and want to know what happened. I never ask whether she's cheating or just looking at pictures. I don't want to give her any ideas. When she quits asking what this word or that word is, I ask her what's going on in her book.

[Chloe]

We do a living books approach for history and science.  I require 30 minutes each from a history book, science book and literature book from my 11 yo and 20 minutes from each book for my 7yo (a voracious reader who always exceeds that amount).  Some books are chosen by me and some are their choice.  Both of them enjoy reading.  My high schoolers have a set reading list and weekly schedule for their literature and history.  Science for them is textbook based.

[MinivanMom]

It has worked better for us to have a daily reading time for everyone, rather than a required minimum time. For many years, we had an hour of daily "quiet time" after lunch for the kids to read. Now we do an hour before bedtime. I don't assign reading to kids younger than 10. I let them read whatever they want, but I do keep an eye on what they're choosing so I can talk to them about their reading or point them in the direction of new authors/genres.

 

I would be concerned about a 7-yr-old who wasn't finishing chapter books, especially if you have concerns about comprehension. I would probably institute some daily read-aloud or buddy-reading time, so that you can listen to her reading each day. It would help you get a feel for her fluency and comprehension, and then you can give support or instruction if you feel she needs it.

[KrissiK]

I don't do it. Kids who like to read will read without requiring it, and kids who don't like to read will lie. Like mine do. I know that sounds terrible, but my oldest dh doesn't like to read and won't do it. Even great books, he just skims right through it. Gets enough of the point that when I ask him for a chapter summary he says something, but then when we talk abut the book after he supposedly read it, he's clueless. He did that when I had him read Beowulf earlier this year. Now, this book is like a 6th grade boy's dream book - monsters, blood, fighting. What's not to like, right? I have to sit with him and I read a page, he reads a page or it doesn't get done! It is so irritating.

[Justified]

It has worked better for us to have a daily reading time for everyone, rather than a required minimum time. For many years, we had an hour of daily "quiet time" after lunch for the kids to read. Now we do an hour before bedtime.

We do an hour before bedtime of reading in our home too. It is nice. They love reading but they are especially motivated to read because if they don't they have to go to bed. They see it as getting to stay up later too. My oldest DS is pretty much an independent reader. My DD is almost independent and is reading beginner chapter books. I take advantage of the playaways at the library to foster a love for chapter books. They follow along in the book with their finger and listen to the audio. This not only improves their speed but comprehension and confidence as well. My DD picks up chapter books on her own now with confidence. I then focus on budding reading with my youngest DS during our family reading time. Sometimes we end the time with me reading a book to everyone.

 

We also do audiobooks in the car and I have them follow along in the books with their fingers. Of course, they will grow out of this and just use their eyes, but it's a process. They actually love following along and we are currently going through the Clementine series in the car.

[HeWillSoar]

What I did with the kids (and it worked like a charm) was to set their bedtime and then "allow" them to stay up an extra half hour after that time to read.  They always chose to read.  I never questioned them about their reading but I knew they were doing it.  Now if we are reading the same books together, I don't require the night time reading.

[mohini]

We use biblionaseum.com - it's free. You can set up reading challenges if you want. My kids log their books as they go. They really like it because they get awards for reading and they get to poke around on the computer. It also creates a list of their independent reading (as they log books) that you can print at the end of the year - for a portfolio or whatnot.

[OneStepAtATime]

Well, FWIW, my private reading time was mine, growing up.  I read when I wanted and didn't read when I didn't want to.  It was my down time, my fun escape time.  And I LOVED reading because of that.  I WANTED to read.  It wasn't an assignment or a forced activity.  It was for FUN.  And I read all the time because it was my choice to do so.  I loved having that choice and a bit of control over my day.

 

Now that I homeschool and my kids are not big on reading (dyslexic) we do read alouds and they listen to books on cd, and I do provide reading material for them, but I don't ask them to report on what they are reading for fun.  Assigned reading for academic purposes, sure.  But having to report or prove they were reading during their fun reading would probably kill their motivation and interest faster than anything else I could do.  Having fun, seemingly spontaneous, frequently in-depth discussions about what they are reading (I sometimes have to subtly engineer those) can be awesome.  Really motivating.  But no I don't require them to report on what they were reading for fun (which is what I define independent reading time as, but I realize others may not).

 

But that's just my experience.  Maybe other kids thrive on having to report on what they read for fun.

[FloridaLisa]

We've always done the "reading time/quiet time" for an hour after lunch. My olders now read on their own as needed for classes and as wanted for their own interests. 

 

But for my younger kids, I've always just required the 1 hour. i don't assign pages because for most of my kids, it was productive time (I actually did have to do this for one when he was older b/c he was not a real reader and would take f o r e v e r   to get through a book.)  There is no structured review or testing of the books though I usually like to casually ask questions about whether they like the book and what they like about it. It helps me to steer to them to other books they might like. 

 

My current 7-year-old does tend to get sleepy just when it's reading time and then perk right up when it's over. :)  So, she stays near me and I make sure she's actually pulling out good books and reading, not cuddling and staring into space. 

 

Lisa

 

P.S. We also use the Book-its to encourage reading.  I set it by hours read, though, not numbers of books read. 

[ocelotmom]

For DS11 (strong reader), I have 1/2 hour "literature" (choice within a set list), and 1/2 hour non-fiction (free choice). I also have 1 hour of free-choice "productive activity" time, and free choice reading can be counted as part of that. He is also free to read whatever he wants beyond that.

 

"Literature" isn't necessarily classics or anything like that, but mainly to encourage him to stretch out and improve - he'd read the same handful of books over and over without a requirement of some sort.

 

DD8 is still at the "Any reading is good reading" stage, and has 1/2 hour of free choice reading (plus the "productive activity" time, which can be free reading). 

[LibraryLover]

They are so young. 'Looking' at books is fine. High quality illustrated books, and audio books. Read aloud daily.

[Dramorellis]

My 8 year old reads on his own all the time. I don't put any limits or requirements on how long or what (as long as it's appropriate) he reads on his own time. For "school" however I do select books for him to read. I'm looking for books that are at level or just a bit above his reading level and books that are valuable for content. Valuable content might include something that goes with what we are reading in history, science or what he is interested in at the moment. It also could be something that I feel is classic literature or maybe just an interesting story that is well written. I am not picking anything that I don't think he will enjoy. If he hates it then he is not under any obligation to finish it. He was bored to tears with Henry Huggins and My Father's Dragon so I put them right back on the shelf un-finished and gave him a few choices of what to read instead. I pick things that he might not pick on his own and things that stretch his reading skills and mind. He has no reason NOT to read them if he is enjoying them. Often they are selections that he would never have been drawn to on his own but then he loves them and actually thanks me for "making him" read it.

 

I assign a chapter at a time if reasonable or less if they are long chapters. There is no time element. He can read for as long or as short as he wants and we finish the book when we finish it. He may read 20 minutes today but then 3 hours tomorrow because he was so into it and didn't want to stop. Then we discuss the portion he has read. It's very loose. He usually will bring it up because he thought it was funny, interesting, sad etc. and then we discuss how he felt, what he thought that part may have meant or what we think will happen next. We sometimes do a book review at then end of a book. Not always though. He might draw pictures of certain parts. I have seen it spark an interest in him. After reading Matilda, he decided he loved Roald Dahl and wanted to read everything else we could get our hands on. Right now he is reading Peter Pan and I keep finding him in a chair laughing because Peter is so clueless and Tinker Bell is so rude. There is nothing wrong with reading Tiny Titans and A to Z Mysteries if that's what he wants to do but also there should be room for something like The Secret Garden. Had I not assigned it to him, he would have never picked it up. The key portion also is that I read or have read the book as well so we can be excited about it together and it's a sharing of the love of the word and story. There would be no reason to keep him accountable. If he doesn't want to read it then we don't. Also I think it would depend on exactly what the objective is. Is it to improve reading stamina or is it exposure to quality literature? When he was 5-6 it was solely stamina so I didn't care if he read 12 picture books about Lego in a row as long as he was working on that skill. Now we have moved beyond that and the focus is exposure so yes I am going to be more selective. 

[MrsWeasley]

I'm a huge believer in quiet time, and in our house, quiet time has always required a child to lay in bed with a book or nap. It helps give me a break during the day, helps with reluctant nappers, and encourages independent readers. Of course, my kids are spaced enough that I have a baby who always naps after lunch and a preschooler who sometimes naps, so that makes scheduling an independent reading time easy. Every time we go to the library, I make sure we have a good assortment of books we keep in her room (inspired by the list in WTM, we try to get one from each category), but I don't monitor what of it she reads: for us, access creates enough encouragement to keep her reading reasonably diverse, even though she obviously prefers history and fantasy novels.

[DesertBlossom]

I find the wide variety of responses quite interesting.

 

Just FTR, I haven't yet assigned anything specific for my kids to to read. But all of your responses have given me a lot to think about in how I want reading to happen in our home.  

 

My 8 year old reads on an 8th grade level. The 7 year old probably reads at least a 3rd grade level. The 8yo picks up non-fiction to read for fun.  He takes a little bit more motivating for chapter books. However, when he finds a subject or series he likes, he'll devour it. However, external motivation does wonders for him. He's an 8 year old boy who would much prefer running around  screaming and harassing his siblings to reading chapter books. So I have found that paying a penny per page or filling star charts for a reward is highly motivating. He loves to read... he just sometimes needs a little motivating to sit down and get started.

 

We do have "quiet time" in the afternoon for an hour, 30 minutes of which must be reading. I've also recently made the rule that for every minute they want to play on the wii, they have to have read that many minutes. (I thought I was being quite brilliant simultaneously putting a limit on screen time while also encouraging reading. But maybe not.)

 

My original question stemmed from a couple concerns I've had. The 8yo (when he's reading a book he's loving) will often wake up before everyone else and read for a long time. However, because of the Wii time limit, I've caught him a couple of times telling me he got up to read when I'm pretty sure he didn't. (He's a terrible liar)  Maybe the Wii rule isn't going to be as awesome as I thought it would be. But I wondered if somehow keeping track of pages read per day would keep him accountable. 

 

Also, too often he'll lose his place in a book (usually because he leaves it somewhere that a smaller sibling gets it) and then he decides he doesn't want to finish the book. He says he likes it, but finding the page he was on is too hard. (Because he'd have to re-read parts of the book and heaven forbid he waste his time doing that. *eyeroll* )  I don't make him finish a book he doesn't like and he picks his own books.  The whole "I can't find my page so I want a different book" story happens too often, IMO.

 

 

I should still be sitting with the 7yo listening to her read, but for obvious reasons that's hard to do. She picks out a lot of books, starts them and never gets anywhere. I suggested Little House on the Prairie (the book she's reading now) because we read Little House in the Big Woods as a read aloud, and she was excited about the next book.  I started out assigning a chapter a day or a certain time, primarily just because I wanted her to actually finish the book. She's not the 8yo in the way he gets obsessed about a book and can't put it down. She's just kind of "meh" about finishing anything.  I also find her reading random books throughout the house, usually the easy readers that she can do in a sitting. But I would like to encourage more quality literature.

 

[justamouse]

We are NOT morning people. We like to wake slowly, and quietly. So, what has worked best for us is to read quietly for an hour in the morning, with a few pots of coffee and perhaps some toast. 

They are all-around me at the table, and that's how I keep them accountable. The strugglers do 5-6 pages a day, then to 10, up until the point that I can just count on them to finish the book in a timely manner so that we can stick to our schedule. 

[DesertBlossom]

I never required my dc to read. I didn't ask them about what they were reading. I didn't assign books.

 

It would especially not occur to me to do those things with children as young as yours.

 

I wanted my dc to love to read; seems to me that requiring them to read and all that would be counterproductive.

 

I do understand this philosophy, but I don't think my oldest boy would ever develop a love of reading anything but non-fiction if he weren't gently encouraged to do so. The summer when I've paid a penny per page, not only was he really excited about the money, but he founds series of books that he loved and read all the way through them. But I know that without the initial motivation, he never would have done it on his own.  

 

While assigning books or certain pages to read per day might not be the answer, neither is stepping back completely.

[VeritasMama]

My kids have a reading list I printed from donnayoung.org where they can write down the books they read. I try to use it as encouragement, so they can see the list and have a sense of accomplishment, not like an assignment where they must read so many pages a day. We have free reading time every day.

[OneStepAtATime]

Would a Kindle help?  Your boy would have a harder time losing his place that way.  And you can check to see when he last read his book.  My son LOVES his Kindle.  He carries it everywhere.  

 

Also, for your younger child that you have a hard time carving out time to sit with, if she had a Kindle and paired it with whispersync she could even be reading more advanced material while it reads to her.  In other words, the book is reading to her while the text that is being read is highlighted so she sees the print and hears the words.  Therefore she would be able to read material that is possibly more advanced than she is comfortable decoding right now but she is being exposed to the print/vocabulary/concepts/grammar, etc. that are richer and at a higher level.  Not sure that made sense.  Sorry.  Typing on the fly.  :)

[IfIOnly]

We have a reading hour every night at bedtime.  My children love getting to stay up, and this time has really encouraged them to read for pleasure.

 

I keep the house full of library books that I pick.  The kids pick out their own to bring home, as well.  They generally read ALL of the books we bring home by the time we return them.

 

We do the library's summer reading program.

 

I ask them about books they're reading and am excited to hear their summary of the story and their own thoughts/take away.

 

Most importantly, I make sure that I've done a good job teaching phonics/reading to them until they're fluent.  That means that they read 5 to 10 minutes to me every school day after phonics lessons are completed until I know that they are fluent readers.

 

 

 

[ocelotmom]

I chose to go by time rather than chapters/pages because these are so variable depending on reading level and chapter length, and I didn't want to have to decide on a book-by-book basis or have him get into a game of choosing the books that would be easiest to read quickly. 

[IfIOnly]

Oh, how could I forget?  We don't do video games or have TV.  Movies are limited. Spelling City and Dance Mat Typing are super fun for my kids. :)  They spend a LOT of time playing together and reading to themselves and each other. 

[HelenNotOfTroy]

My 7 year old reads all the time, but I assign him 30 minutes of something I pick each school day. It is the last thing we do and I read something alongside him most of the time.

 

ETA I don't require anything from him about the books at this point, but eventually I will.

[Curlymom]

I read to my kids.  If I have a book that I think they need to read (a classic, etc.), I read it to them.  Mine are 7 and 9.  

 

I have my 7 year old practice reading aloud every day by having him read several pages of a beginning reader to me daily (we are working through books like Little Bear) but I don't require any other reading.  On his own, he will look through his magazines (Ranger Rick, etc.) and read Calvin and Hobbes.  But I don't require him to do any additional reading out of 'school', and I read to him throughout the day and my husband reads to him before bed.

 

I have a stack of suggested reading for my 9 year old that includes classics and Newbery Award/Honor books.  She knows that those are the books I would prefer her to read, but I also allow free reads.  She is coming out of public school and they had a required daily reading log that sucked the joy of reading out of life for her, so I'm trying to reinstate that joy while at the same time guiding her to good books.  So I do have her read daily, but I don't necessarily have a time limit.  We chat about the reading later in the day, and she usually will end up reading on her own later.  I also read to her before bedtime, in addition to any reading that I may have read aloud to both of them during the day.

[Farrar]

Your kids are pretty young. So just keep that in mind. Many 7 yos aren't really fluently enough to really enjoy a long stretch of reading independently yet.

 

I've done different things. For awhile we were doing one required reading book a month - their choice from a list. But that didn't quite ever work great. It was okay, but it wasn't perfect. Now we just do a required reading time before bed - they're 10 yo and we do 1 hour. There can be no lying. They just sit there and read. Usually dh or I read silently too, all cuddled in bed. We have a general guideline for them to alternate between graphic novels (which rarely take more than one or two nights at most anyway), light reading (like Wimpy Kid style books and light series), and more literary options, though of their own choosing. Occasionally I do require a book, but then we all read it in pieces and discuss as we go. Having a required reading time has really helped one of my ds's fluency. They enjoy the time even though they don't typically choose to read in their other free time. I'm happy with it.

[In2why]

I do understand this philosophy, but I don't think my oldest boy would ever develop a love of reading anything but non-fiction if he weren't gently encouraged to do so. The summer when I've paid a penny per page, not only was he really excited about the money, but he founds series of books that he loved and read all the way through them. But I know that without the initial motivation, he never would have done it on his own.  

 

While assigning books or certain pages to read per day might not be the answer, neither is stepping back completely.

 

My 11 year old still does not like to read and will avoid it if at all possible.  This means staring at the page and reading nothing sometimes.   I tried finding books he would love.  I tried alternating chapters and starting an exciting book with him by reading the first chapter.  We also limited screen time hoping he would want to read.  Instead he can spend hours with lego's, Knex, or making up games. 

 

So he is probably never going to voluntarily read for the joy of reading.   So I use comprehension reading.  We use CLE Reading.  He reads a chapter and then has comprehension questions to answer.  We also have oral reading for fluency and expression.  That reassures me that he can read, and that he is on level and understands what he is reading.  Other than that I will continue to take him to the library, we will continue to have quiet time and I strew books everywhere in the hopes he might change, but I am not holding my breath.  I still read aloud great books, we listen to them in the car, and we discuss books that I have read and loved.  

 

I also had to acknowledge that while reading heavy curricula and living books would have been my dream education, it certainly isn't his.  That was hard and I still fight the urge when I see something that is beautifully written and developed.

[Soror]

I didn't really have required reading until ds was 9, he started reading well around 8 but I didn't feel he was ready for it for other reasons, he read pretty voraciously on his own. Now last year I started with some assignments, but this was generally fairly open. This year at 10 he has some assignments every day, he reads some lit, science and history, in varying amounts- these are either by time or page numbers wrote on his schedule. After his reading we will either have a (usually) brief discussion or he might have some type of small associated assignment. My goal this year is to have ds get in the habit of assigned reading and discerning information.