How much reading for the First grader?

[Rosepetal]

My daughter is 6yo and she's at the end of kindergarten. She's done 100 EZ Lessons and doing PP and ETC 2 nowadays.and I've had her read aloud to me every day for about 3-4 hours from a Mcguffey first reader, picture books and Beginning books on her level. 

 

I know it's according to the stamina and interest level of each child but may I know how many pages does your child mostly read from The Free & Treadwell and Elson reader with some earlier readers like I Can Read It series(Biscuit books),Elephant and Piggie, Fly Guy books, Scholastic level 1 readers,Step into reading level 1 and 2, US Borne first reading, Penguin young readers level 2, Green Light Readers, Dr. Seuss books.(Using these readers for her read aloud time) Do you let him/her read one whole book(32 pages) every day or few pages from 3-5 books daily until she/he finishes all? and for how long?30 mins. or 1 hour? Do you reread the same book twice or thrice for the language and comprehension development?

 

How to cut on reading time as it usually takes 3-4 hours daily only for her to read aloud to me from various early reading books?Sometimes she gets frustrated and I know it's too much. Should I let her read from one early reader or continue 4-5 reading books daily?We do discuss things while reading and she enjoys the reading and new vocabulary.(As English is not her first language so want to keep her around the English books so that she could pick up a lot and she does.) 

 

Thanks!

Edited April 25, 2016 by Rosepetal

[Coco_Clark]

Your 6 year old kinder student reads for 3-4 HOURS a day?!? Am I reading that right?!?!

 

For full disclosure my K students don't even school for 3 hours a day TOTAL, so this may be completely useless to you. But...

 

I tend to "popcorn read" with my earliest readers. Meaning they read a page and then I read a page. If it's a long book and they are getting fatigued I will often just read the rest. When they feel up to it they start building to reading the entire book and then higher levels of books.

 

We read one book at a time, not a few pages from many.

 

We read until fatigues in K (15-20 min generally but I'm not timing it or forcing a certain amount). When they hit chapter books (late 1st/early 2nd IME) I start timing. 30 min at first and building up to an hour by the beginning of 3rd. This is assigned reading. Everyone can free read from 8-9pm and stay up the extra hour.

 

I let them read a book as many times as they want, as long as it's not memorized.

 

I'd suggest cutting her reading time and using read aloud stop build language/vocabulary. That's a LOT of reading for a very young student.

[SKL]

I don't think I've ever asked for even as much as 1 hour of reading aloud from either of my kids.  Probably closer to 0.5hr per day if you're only counting "reading" work.  If you count the reading required for math and other subjects, maybe up to 1 hour, depending on the kid.  (One of mine mostly did silent reading by age 6.)

 

To help with comprehension when needed, I would either pre-read or re-read the book she was reading, and/or ask her to tell me the story in her own words.

 

I would also read aloud (to her) good books that are at a higher reading/vocabulary level.

[Sk8ermaiden]

I was also going to say that sounds like so much for a beginning reader. Typically with my early first grader, I would have her read until it was obvious she was getting tired - more mistakes, less retention - once she started getting frustrated, reading was over. I remember it took us over a week to get through Fancy Nancy and the 100th Day of School, reading 3 or so pages at a time. Then I did have her read it again for fluency and we made it through in 2 days. Easier books like the Biscuit books - we might read one or just half in a day. 

Now that her fluency is better (at the end of first grade), I typically have her read me a chapter from one of her transitional chapter books. Sometimes it's very easy, for fluency and expression - like the Ling and Ting books, and sometimes more challenging - like The Kingdom of Wrenly books. The latter has turned her into a reader! And she went from being exhausted by one chapter to finishing whole chapter books in a day! But I never require it. Of course I want her to read, but my main goal is that she LOVE reading, and I know if I make it a chore...that's a surefire way to make her hate it. 

We also did ETC. We're finishing up with book 8 now. In Kindy we only did maybe an hour of school a day total, and I only occasionally asked her to read to me above and beyond ETC, though sometimes she chose to on her own. Now in first grade, school takes about 2-2.5 hours total, including not more than 20 minutes of reading. 

Edited April 25, 2016 by Sk8ermaiden

[mamiof5]

3-4 hours per day reading???? Did I read that right or it's a typo? I just can't imagine it. No way that would work for us

[SKL]

Regarding how far to go in a single book per day, for my slower reader, I'd try to choose books that she could finish in one sitting, or read a chapter in a sitting.  We might do more than one book if they were very short.  (My other kid enjoyed reading a lot and was really on her own with any material that took more than one sitting to read.)

[fourisenough]

15-20 mins per day for a K student. I might read aloud to her for up to 1 hour. 3-4 hours?! I hope we're misunderstanding your OP.

[Bluegoat]

I might ask a K student to read for 15 min a day, if she could focus.  Assuming she could in fact read.

[rmtzc2009]

I'm thinking the 3-4 hours is a typo? What is gained by having DC read for that long? DS reads 15-20 minututes and I do any additional reading to him.

[SilverMoon]

On 4/24/2016 at 8:09 PM, Rosepetal said:

 

 

 

Edited October 30, 2022 by SilverMoon

[strange_girl]

15 minutes a day is plenty :). Maybe 30 minutes if she enjoys it.

 

 

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[RootAnn]

Only one of my five could read in first grade. So, we would be practicing reading for 15-30 minutes and starting a spelling/phonics program for 20-30 minutes. (That would also count for hand writing.)

 

I also read aloud to the whole family at night.

[UCF612]

My oldest was a great reader by the end of 1st and read probably an hour a day cumulative. Most of that was silent reading by choice. Probably 15 min of that was a reading lesson which involved reading out loud to me. Now as a 3rd grader he'd happily read 3-4 hours a day to himself. Probably more but I make him go outside!

 

My youngest is a first grader now. He's a struggling reader. He reads probably 15 to 30 min a day, most of that is out loud with me. It would be less if reading weren't a challenge to him (on a good day he can finish the text more quickly with accuracy). We stop as soon as I think he's close to fatigue. That varies by the day! He'd be a mess if I expected more than that, it takes a lot put of him to read.

 

We do a daily read aloud (me reading) and have an audiobook always going in the car.

Edited April 25, 2016 by UCF612

[desertflower]

For my 1st grader, he reads 10 mins to himself (a book below his readinv level), he reads 10 mins aloud (5 min from a book above his level and 5 mins below his level), then there's free reading where he reads anything he wants for 15 mins.

 

I also read to my older 2 most nights anywhere from 30 mins to 1 hour.