When do they stop reading out loud?

[nature girl]

My DD6 reads mostly fluently, at a late 3rd grade level. And always out loud. I asked if she's able to read silently and she told me she can't...I'm assuming it's because she needs the spoken words in order to process them and follow the stories, or maybe it's part of her ADHD (she tends to think out loud as well.) Or maybe it's just because she learned to read by reading out loud, and it's just a habit.

 

So please forgive my cluelessness, but is this typical for a 6 year old, even if she's no longer sounding out words? (I really don't mind it at all, I'm just asking out of curiosity.)

[Roseto27]

I think at six you should start training for silent reading. It's ok if most of her reading still happens orally, but she should start gaining some confidence in her *ability* to do so silently. It may be another year or two before that's her preference, particularly since she's homeschooled and doesn't have the same peer influence that she would in a large classroom. There's no problem with that, but she should have the ability to process at least short passages silently as well.

[~Laura~]

My 6yo reads out loud once in awhile, I just remind him to read silently. His comprehension and speed seem to be consist either way, at a late 4th/early 5th level. If the silent reading interfered with comprehension, I'd work on slowly building up to longer durations of quiet reading.

[kalusignan]

I posted about this back in January.

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/585463-not-silent-reading/

 

You're not alone.  :lol:

[nature girl]

I posted about this back in January.

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/585463-not-silent-reading/

 

You're not alone.  :lol:

 

Oh funny, I missed that! Thanks, it's good to know she's not the only one!

[OneStepAtATime]

Actually, for some kids they need to "hear" the words to process them.  It may take longer for their "inner" voice to kick in.  When you are reading do you "hear" a voice, maybe your voice, reading the words?  You may not even be aware of it.  I hear a voice right now, while I am typing.  I hear a voice when I am reading.  Not a loud voice.  I just hear the words, quietly, in my head.

 

My son did not hear a voice.  He needed an external voice reading the words on the page because he had no inner voice.  He verbalized all his thoughts for the same reason.  He would ask all the time for me to read his stories to him before he would read them himself.  He needed help getting an inner voice.  We didn't even know it for years and years.  He needed to develop his inner voice to be able to hear the words on the page and process what they were saying.  Otherwise they didn't have any meaning.  

 

I have a friend that records herself reading her technical manuals because she can read and reread a page many times silently and it won't compute.  The words have no meaning.  Her brain can't process them properly.  If she then plays back her own voice reading the material while she follows along with the text, then it has meaning.  Although neither of us realized it when we were younger, she basically appears to have no inner voice.  She learns auditorily but needs that auditory reinforcement to be external.

 

Can you learn to read silently without an inner voice?  Yes.  Deaf people do it all the time.  But for some that process is really hard and takes more time or maybe that component never develops.  There are worse issues to have.  Lots of ways to work around this problem.  Most people do eventually develop their inner voice, though.  We all develop at different rates.  Your child may just need more time (and perhaps some more targeted practice).

 

Keep reading to her, keep having her read aloud but also incorporate reading practice every day where she reads silently then you discuss what she read.  Help her break it down, help her "hear" what she is reading.

[nature girl]

My son did not hear a voice.  He needed an external voice reading the words on the page because he had no inner voice.  He verbalized all his thoughts for the same reason.  He would ask all the time for me to read his stories to him before he would read them himself.  He needed help getting an inner voice.  We didn't even know it for years and years.  He needed to develop his inner voice to be able to hear the words on the page and process what they were saying.  Otherwise they didn't have any meaning.  

 

I have a friend that records herself reading her technical manuals because she can read and reread a page many times silently and it won't compute.  The words have no meaning.  Her brain can't process them properly.  If she then plays back her own voice reading the material while she follows along with the text, then it has meaning.  Although neither of us realized it when we were younger, she basically appears to have no inner voice.  She learns auditorily but needs that auditory reinforcement to be external.

 

That is so fascinating! I heard a lecture by Russel Barkley awhile ago, where he was saying ADHD kids don't develop an inner voice till much later, if at all. He said if you watch classes of NT kids at different ages, in Kindy they're always talking to themselves while they play and while they work, and then by 1st the noise dies down drastically because most of the kids have developed that voice. But not the ADHD kids...

 

Interestingly, although DD is almost always talking to herself while playing, there are periods of a few minutes here and there where she is uncharacteristically (VERY uncharacteristically) silent while she plays. It shocked me the first time it happened, because the noise is so constant here, lol. Then on Friday, I gave her a small glass of Bai natural soda, which happens to have some caffeine (which supposedly boosts dopamine in the brain) and she spent an hour playing almost completely silently. It was stunning! So I'm assuming she does have that voice, just needs to still herself enough to allow herself to use it.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, I've never tried working with her on it--just assumed it would develop naturally--but I'll start this week with more simple texts and see how she does.