How often / how much do you have your kids read out loud TO YOU?

[Wonder]

Last year my 2nd graders (twins) and I had reading time together where they would basically take turns reading to me daily.  Pretty normal for 2nd grade, I think.  They are not struggling readers and enjoy reading.  For my 5th grader last year, I had her read to me basically just every once in a while.  Or I would let her have a turn reading SOTW to all of us. :)  Just wondering how others go about having their kids read out loud?  What is a typical "progression?"  I'm trying to get our schedule for this next year somewhat laid out (at least what we will initially try). :)

[OneGirlAcademy]

I have a 12 year old, excellent reader. I have her read daily a poem and she reads the lessons from Ceasar's English to me. She often volunteers to read from her literature books. That's it for us.

[J&JMom]

I read to them a heck of a lot more than they to me.  For 2nd grade, I had him record himself reading a Raz-Kid book a day that I listened to later. With both boys I do a 2x weekly novel study and we take turns reading aloud chapters (10 minutes or so).  Occasionally, I'll have them read aloud a page or two of their textbook during our lesson..  For fluency checks (1 minute assessments), my younger son does them weekly as part of his Treasures program and both do them quarterly with EasyCBM. They have scored acceptable and beyond, so I don't have them read aloud any more than that.  Now, I read aloud at least an hour a day from fiction and non-fiction sources, listen to me or an audio of their textbooks frequently, and silent reading of self-selected book for at least 30 minutes daily.

[Mrs. B]

This is for most school days: my newish 7yo reads to me 10 minutes out of an appropriate level reader with my helping her with a few new words. My 9 yo reads to me about the same amount of time. He is a strong reader, but skips or adds in tiny words here and there. I work with him on attention to detail, new vocabulary, and recitation.

 

ETA: I have each of them practice reading the passae they plan to read to me independently a few minutes ahead of time.

[Heidi]

We read the scriptures out loud every day, each kid reading a verse until we're through the section or chapter.  

 

My 2nd grader reads a chapter from McGuffey aloud every day.  

 

Poetry teatime is once a week; we take turns reading aloud poetry.

[Ellie]

Never.

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

Beyond about 2nd grade, rarely.  Why?  Because they read aloud to each other all the time.  And if they don't read it "properly," they get chided by one of the children they are reading to.  I just listen and note where I see issues, but all 3 of the oldest read beautifully and I really think it's because they've had plenty of practice reading to their siblings. They also get practice explaining things, because the listeners will all ask if they don't understand what something means---then they ask me when they don't know how to explain.  It's pretty organic, really.

[FO4UR]

On school days the boys read aloud to me 15-20min each.  dd has never struggled with reading aloud so I don't make her do it.  She reads aloud to her little sister a bunch.  

 

I have visions of turning that hour when I read aloud into a round-robin reading hour...they are capable of the reading, but they would be constantly bickering. (Read louder, read softer, your breath stinks, he's breathing on me, you don't sound like Gandolf, well you look like Gollum.....)  Maybe that will be an option when they are out of this pre-teen funk.

 

 

[reign]

My older two read aloud to me every day until late last summer. They were at a 4th/5th grade reading level. I picked up a McGuffey reader and they read to me once a week during the school year. They do silent reading daily and read to their sister too.

[Wonder]

Never.

 

Why not?  Just curious as to the reasons. :)

[KrissiK]

Every day. I don't have them read our "read aloud" book. They like to hear me and only me on that one. But, during reading/literature time they read some and I read some. Every day. I don't know if they like it or not, but they do it.

[SilverMoon]

.

Edited September 10, 2023 by SilverMoon

[Annie Elle]

We read aloud to each other daily, including my gifted middle schooler. She was a early reader who didn't need phonics to learn to read. Having her read aloud has uncovered issues with phonics that I was unaware.

[Ellie]

Why not?  Just curious as to the reasons. :)

 

I never saw a reason to require it.

[wintermom]

Up until they're about age 8 or 9, I'd have each child read to me daily from their reader.  Now the dc's reading aloud is variable; they will read their stories and poem aloud to the group in writing class; the boys love reading jokes aloud to dh. 

[wintermom]

I never saw a reason to require it.

 

I did it as part of the dc's learning to read progression, so that I could find out what they could read and what they couldn't. Even when I knew they were fairly fluent readers, there were still a lot of words they didn't know how to pronounce and they didn't know what they meant. 

 

In addition, reading aloud is a skill set on its own, and learning how to use inflection with questions, vary tone of voice, etc. is important. There are all kinds of situations in life when a person may be asked to read aloud. Knowing how to do this with some degree of confidence will prevent embarrassment.

[Jess4879]

Aside from during instruction time, the kids read to me before bed (approx. 15 mins each).  They also read to each other (approx. 15 mins) daily in the afternoons. 

[Chrysalis Academy]

My 3rd grader loved to read aloud to me.  It was almost a bribe - I'll read (something educational) to you, then you can read to me!  She loved it.  I liked it because she was reading very above grade level books and it helped me be sure that she was actually, you know, reading them all.  I still find it useful because I can help her with pronouncing big words correctly, and if she can't pronounce a word, I'll ask her if she knows what it means, and if she doesn't I'll give her a quick definition. It just takes a few seconds and doesn't interfere with the story. But I think it's helping her with pronunciation/elocution as well as vocabulary, so I will continue it as long as she wants to.  It doesn't happen every day, but it does happen whenever she asks about it.  If she didn't ask, I think it's still something I'd ask her to do a couple of times a week, because like I said, I wanted to make sure she was actually able to read the books she was "reading."

[JudoMom]

I don't require it when I don't require phonics anymore.  Mine have all been able to decode anything by the time they were 6, so they all had stopped reading to me that age.  Sometimes during family time they might read something aloud to the whole family, but that's if they're leading Bible study or something like that.  They read confidently, so I haven't felt the need to make them practice.  Every now and then, I'll hear them say a word that they've picked up from reading but they aren't pronouncing correctly, so I'll just mention the correct pronunciation to them.  

If they struggled, either with reading or confidence in reading aloud, I would have them read aloud to me for about 5-10 minutes a day from something they were already doing for school.  I'd probably vary what that was, as well, so they had practice with different types of reading.

[CAtoVA]

On school days, daily about 10-15 minutes.

[Ellie]

I did it as part of the dc's learning to read progression, so that I could find out what they could read and what they couldn't. Even when I knew they were fairly fluent readers, there were still a lot of words they didn't know how to pronounce and they didn't know what they meant. 

 

In addition, reading aloud is a skill set on its own, and learning how to use inflection with questions, vary tone of voice, etc. is important. There are all kinds of situations in life when a person may be asked to read aloud. Knowing how to do this with some degree of confidence will prevent embarrassment.

 

Other than during the times when I was teaching younger dd to read (which I don't really put in the category of "reading aloud"), I didn't see the need to require it. I read aloud to my dc and so they had a good role model. :-) Both are proficient today in the kinds of situations you mentioned. :-)

[wintermom]

My 3rd grader loved to read aloud to me.  It was almost a bribe - I'll read (something educational) to you, then you can read to me!  She loved it.  I liked it because she was reading very above grade level books and it helped me be sure that she was actually, you know, reading them all.  I still find it useful because I can help her with pronouncing big words correctly, and if she can't pronounce a word, I'll ask her if she knows what it means, and if she doesn't I'll give her a quick definition. It just takes a few seconds and doesn't interfere with the story. But I think it's helping her with pronunciation/elocution as well as vocabulary, so I will continue it as long as she wants to.  It doesn't happen every day, but it does happen whenever she asks about it.  If she didn't ask, I think it's still something I'd ask her to do a couple of times a week, because like I said, I wanted to make sure she was actually able to read the books she was "reading."

 

:iagree:   It is very easy to simply skip over words that look too hard, are new, and we don't know what they mean. I do it myself when reading. It takes a lot more discipline to ensure that one understands every word, and many people are not going to do this unless held accountable or somehow motivated to do so.

[displace]

I have DS read aloud 15-20 min daily, plus some extra stuff like mad libs or games. He has dyslexia and I must supervise and correct daily. I ensure every single word is read correctly without reversals and proper pronunciation, not switching articles or little words for other words, pluralizing and reading the correct word endings. I would like to build up to 30 min but it is very fatiguing for him.

 

I think, even if your DC have no concerns reading, it's a good idea to do it at least occ until 3rd/4th grade or that reading level. As the more complicated reading words and patterns present themselves, there are some students with dyslexia that are bright and have no problems until they get to the bigger multi syllabic words at about that level (sometimes higher reading levels too). But of course my experience makes me biased. :)

 

Of a personal note, I know someone as an adult who has a very poor oral reading style (not reading for expression, punctuation, enunciation, etc). It is so poor I cannot allow this person to read aloud to DS as it is a bad model and a horrible idea for dyslexics to have this type of read aloud. So I recommend to all people reading aloud to do their best to read clearly and with good expression. I sometimes have to stop reading aloud when I'm tired as I just can't manage great speech and I take a break. But for us it's critical.

[SilverMoon]

I don't have a problem with not understanding or actively using every single word. *shrug* That's how vocabulary is built. I don't know it in this book, but I'm too engaged in the story to care a hoot about looking it up. There are enough clues that I get the gist of the sentence and move on. Then I see the same word again in another book, and another book, and by the 4th-5th book it's my word and I can use it appropriately. If I'm mispronouncing it will be obvious and I can rectify the situation. (Chronic bookworm problem...lol)

[wintermom]

Other than during the times when I was teaching younger dd to read (which I don't really put in the category of "reading aloud"), I didn't see the need to require it. I read aloud to my dc and so they had a good role model. :-) Both are proficient today in the kinds of situations you mentioned. :-)

 

I guess, as with most things, some people have natural talent in certain things and some require more direction and time to learn. Sounds like your dc were naturally gifted at reading aloud. Mine required more practice so that they could read various forms of literature with expression.

 

Another factor is parental expectations and experiences. If a parent has low or no expectations for reading aloud quality, then they probably aren't going to spend much time ensuring that their children can do this.

[SKL]

My kids are also 8yo but they're going into 4th grade.

 

For my youngest, I rarely ask her to read aloud, and only because she needs to work on articulating while doing so.  She is an advanced reader and started silent reading as a pastime well before she turned 5.  I had her read to me daily until she was maybe 5.5.

 

For my eldest, who is an average reader, I pick certain books and have her read aloud to me maybe a couple times a week.  This is so I can gauge whether she needs to work on any specific reading skills.  I also encourage her to read in a story-telling voice, which helps me to ensure she is comprehending the intent of the author.  For books she reads silently, I will periodically ask her to tell me about the story in her own words.

 

ETA:  I should note that my eldest will periodically read aloud a passage from her free reading, just because she wants to share something funny or clever.  She will go back to an earlier part so her listeners can get the context.  So that is another way I can tell she is reading accurately and comprehending well.

[Gil]

They read aloud 5-15 minutes in Spanish every day--depending on the length of the booklet or how much time I have to listen.

Now that we are reading more advanced/complicated books in English, they tend to read aloud to one another because it helps them to "get it"---another reason why we wind up with 2 of almost every textbook ever.

[AnthonyPaul359]

They read aloud to me short stories and I read aloud to them novels. I feel it works on their speaking ability and it helps improve mine! 

[Wabi Sabi]

My younger child, the 7 year old, LOVES reading to others. She begs to read to us daily. 

The 10 year old doesn't read all that much to me anymore: just when I have him read instructions aloud, or have him read the introduction to a lesson to me, a few paragraphs from his writing book, etc. He reads just fine but hates reading aloud. That said, one of the things I've decided to do this year is have him start reading aloud to more often. He used to read aloud beautifully when he was a bit younger and I had him read his younger sister a fairy tale each day as a part of his school work, but these days he's full of stumbles and muttering. He's just out of practice, I think. 
 

[Aurelia]

Sometimes. Occasionally I'll have her read aloud from her history or science text or English lesson if I'm doing something and can't read it for myself, but that's it, these days. Up until age 10, she read aloud daily (between 15 and 30 minutes) at bedtime, and then I would read to her.

[luuknam]

I'm going to have to restart phonics and read alouds with Celery this year. We did some serious phonics practice between K and 1st, and then some during 1st, and then none for the first few months of 2nd grade (he read aloud to me at times throughout 1st grade). I then had him read something aloud to me and it was so stressful for me I couldn't deal with it (he was in public school and is a sight word reader and seemed to have forgotten almost all of the phonics I taught him in the few months we didn't work on it - grrr). So, we'll be doing regular read alouds this coming school year. Not looking forward to that.

 

Broccoli reads about one easy reader to me per day, so about 10-40 min/day depending on how long the reader is and how much he decides to chatter on about everything in the book. Though there are days he doesn't read to me at all. And sometimes I'll just have him read random stuff to me, like when our washer was broken and he came with me to the laundromat I had him read everything on the washers and dryers and other signs there, which featured a bunch of words not usually found in children's books. :)

[Hobbes]

I haven't required read alouds since my reader finished 100 Easy Lessons and a couple of readers and then took off with her own books. I ask her about the books afterwards (she's burning through the Boxcar Children right now, which I read as a kid) and she is always bang on and detailed about the plot and characters.

 

That being said, since seeing this thread I've asked her to read to me a few times while I was knitting. :) She reads well, but I have been able to help with a few words she would have skipped, so I can see the benefit! I'll probably keep it occasional, rather than scheduled.

[luuknam]

I had Celery read something to me yesterday, and he did a lot better than he did in December (which is I think the last time I really had him read something out loud to me). So, yay. I'm still going to work on phonics with him and require more frequent read alouds, but I'm happy it isn't as painful (for me) as it was then. I think the fact that he's better at pronouncing words now helps, since if you're struggling with speech (he's been in speech therapy 'forever') it doesn't make reading aloud any easier.

[ScoutTN]

Ds, twice a week.

Dd, occasionally.

[My3girls]

We do a group read most school days. We are currenlty reading Heidi popcorn style. I think it helps with pronunciaton, elocution, and expressive reading. We don't plan to stop anytime in the near future. I remember in High School having to read aloud selected portions of literature that we were studying.