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Required reading in elementary?


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DD will be starting K in a Spanish immersion school this fall. They get no English language arts until 3rd grade. She's reading on a 2/3rd grade level. Right now she's reading the Mercy Watson books and whatever picture books she wants.

 

For K I was thinking of starting to require certain books. Nothing crazy formal, just me choosing the book she reads aloud to me each day. Right now she reads 1-2 chapters aloud nightly so she's used to it. She also won't have homework outside of reading for K.

 

For those who require reading of certain books/genres, how do you organize it and decide which books. I'm familiar with some of the book lists. Do you just choose one and work through it?

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I encourage my kids to rotate through different genres throughout the year.  Most of the time, I will give them a stack of books and let them choose from what I offer for their school reading.  We have not had a problem hitting all the genres; sometimes I have to be a little more firm about it if they have avoided, say, biographies all year.  But usually if I say something like, "it's time for a mystery book" (or fantasy, or adventure) and give them some choices, they'll pick one.  That is in addition to the carts of books that we take home from the library regularly for "fun" reading.  I use the Sonlight lists as well as Heart of Dakota, Memoria Press, Veritas Press...probably others.  I don't work through just one list, but pull from a lot to really give them a variety to choose from.  That said, K is young to require every genre in a school year.  Fostering a love of reading is definitely more valuable for the long term at that age and making sure to provide quality literature that she loves will do that.  But I would definitely encourage some variety in her reading, or provide it in your read-alouds, which should be a few levels higher than her reading level. 

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I also offer a stack of books (maybe 6-8) from a wide variety of genres. When the stack is down to 2 or 3 I replenish. Sometimes a book sits there overlooked in the stack for months and I just give up on it.

 

I rarely require a certain book or even a certain type of book. If I really want it read then I will read it aloud.

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I don't think I would use the "required reading" concept with a kindergartener, even implicitly. And especially not for the evening reading of a kid who's in school all day. I mean we all have books we want our kids to be exposed to - I'm just questioning whether "mom requires you to read this" is the best approach for making sure that happens. At that age, even with advanced reading skills, it's more about the appeal of literature, and a requirement is not an appeal. You don't want to create an association that "reading" means reading something you may not particularly want to on requirement from an authority figure. I mean I would definitely be concerned about no ELA until 3rd but that can be addressed by attention to quality and balance of types rather than requiring specific books. Even specific literature-based curricula don't start until 1st I believe, and they're not meant to supplant free reading. If you're concerned about the quality of her choices you can offer direction, particularly by reading them to her. (And it should probably be you reading them to her not the other way around. Reading aloud by the child at this age should be short passages aimed at improving oral fluency, not chapter upon chapter. Taking turns is also fun.) I'm kind of curious what books you see as specifically essential in K but so liable to rejection that it takes a "requirement" to make sure it happens. There are more good books out there than you'll ever have time for, so allowing her to select from a range won't have dire consequences.

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We have an advanced reader who is younger than your, but we're planning to hold off on required reading until 3rd grade.

In the meantime, we want to keep the task of reading something that is inherently pleasurable.

 

We bring only the types of books that we want read in the house. Being a small child, Jr has no choice but to read from among the selections that we bring in the house.

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With my oldest, I feel that I stopped having him read aloud to me too soon.  His reading started getting sloppy.

 

With my second, who is in K now, I have him pick something from his reading bin to read aloud to me each morning.  I keep the bin stocked with a variety of books that are appropriate.  Some are short picture books or easy reader non-fiction or children's poetry, but others are longer chapter books that take several days.

 

Once his reading bin is pretty empty then I refill it.

 

Wendy

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In K we had a "reading practice" box that I would stock with material. She could choose anything from the box to read aloud to me. I usually let her choose, but sometimes I chose.

 

I wouldn't call it (or think of it as) required reading in K. Even with an advanced reader I would still consider it reading practice at that age.

 

But...

 

For your DD, I wouldn't do any of that, at least for the first half of the school year. She's going to be hearing a foreign language all day. Her little brain is going to be TIRED by the end of the day. I would let her read whatever she wants (within reason of course), and not push it. I think my goal for those first few months, or even the first year, would be to maintain the current English reading level and not worry about advancing it. An immersion school experience is completely different than a single language experience. The families over on the Bilingual Education board could probably give you some helpful advice and wisdom.

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In K we had a "reading practice" box that I would stock with material. She could choose anything from the box to read aloud to me. I usually let her choose, but sometimes I chose.

 

I wouldn't call it (or think of it as) required reading in K. Even with an advanced reader I would still consider it reading practice at that age.

 

But...

 

For your DD, I wouldn't do any of that, at least for the first half of the school year. She's going to be hearing a foreign language all day. Her little brain is going to be TIRED by the end of the day. I would let her read whatever she wants (within reason of course), and not push it. I think my goal for those first few months, or even the first year, would be to maintain the current English reading level and not worry about advancing it. An immersion school experience is completely different than a single language experience. The families over on the Bilingual Education board could probably give you some helpful advice and wisdom.

What you describe with the box is exactly what I'm thinking. Not necessarily having a "you must read this book now" but more of having a variety of genres and books available that are high quality. I still want her to choose. I'm thinking for her during elementary school so K-3.

 

She reads a lot for pleasure. A mixture of picture and early chapter books.

 

I don't necessarily want her reading level to increase, but I want to keep it steady. And of course we will continue our reading aloud as a family.

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My rising 1st grader reads on a 3rd grade+ level.  I provide a variety of (non-babyish) picture books and chapter books.  She reads aloud to me (as well as her younger sisters) each day, although it's not truly a requirement.  She probably averages about 30 minutes a day.  She loves it and would probably read more if our schedule wasn't so busy.

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