When do you stop having your child read aloud?

[Earthmerlin]

This question is out of curiosity because I just read another post of a K'er reading aloud to his/her mom. I remember those days, which aren't too far behind my daughter's. She also read aloud to me last year, in 1st. I now realize I've slacked off in that respect during her 2nd grade year. She reads independently & I read aloud to her. She will occasionally read me an excerpt of something but I haven't 'required' anything. Perhaps I stopped too soon? When did you stop having your child read aloud to you?

[OneStepAtATime]

If your child is reading fluently and comprehending what she reads and doesn't have an interest in reading allowed to you I don't see the point of making her.

 

I sometimes would read something to Mom that I thought was interesting but my biggest pleasure with reading was getting lost in the material and just surrounding myself with the images popping up as I would read silently to myself. It would have felt tedious and boring to have to read allowed to my mom a bunch at that age.

 

But every child and family is different. If you feel this is important, maybe just add it back in for a few minutes a couple of times a week or something...

[winterbaby]

In some form, never. Like reading comprehension, it should not be treated as a once and for all in the lower grades, but constantly expanded. Maybe it comes from having a child who has special problems with oral fluency but I feel that this area is neglected. My research into what can be done about our issues from an amateur, non-therapeutic point of view quickly led me to discover that in the nineteenth century, "elocution" was treated in detail through high school. In modern times most seem to be satisfied with adequate decoding of elementary school texts, not because they consciously say "elementary level is adequate" but because we have the common practice of dropping it after that stage; my ultimate goal would be completely developed expressive nuance with college-level texts. Of course the form it takes will vary as you go on. Reading at length from dc's usual books would be very tedious after a certain point. Like copywork, you might want to choose the best examples for this type of practice. I think poetry is very important in this connection.

[wendyroo]

I dropped it with oldest at the end of first grade, but several months later I regretted that decision.  When he would occasionally read more complex texts to me (articles from Ask magazine, informational signs at museums and zoos, dictionary and encyclopedia entries, etc) he would really struggle with fluency and decoding longer words.

 

Mid-second grade I re-instituted daily read aloud practice.  I wanted something open and go, so I bought Wise Owl Polysyllables.   It has been so much better than I ever hoped it would be.  It offers great practice with fluency and decoding multi-syllable words, but it also is a fabulous vocabulary resource.  DS is learning all sorts of new words.

 

DS will be continuing WOP (one page a day) until it is done, and then we will probably start over and read through it again.

 

Wendy

[luuknam]

I don't have it scheduled on a regular basis, but I had my 4th grader read "Scythians and Sarmatians" by Kathryn Hinds out loud to me (which is at a grade 7 or 8 reading level, iirc, and features plenty of weird words like, uh, 'Scythians' and 'Sarmatians'). We actually took turns reading the sections, so he'd read 2-3 pages and then I'd read 1-2 pages or so. My primary reason for that book was practicing reading out loud and keep working on sounding words out - the history and comprehension were definitely secondary goals and I think he may not have gotten as much out of it on those fronts as he might have if he'd been a little older (we did have some discussions about some of the things in the book though).

 

Likewise, I had my 1st grader read Julius Zebra out loud to me in the same way for the same reason, though I think his comprehension was better.

 

I'll probably find some other books to use the same way next year.

 

ETA: I should probably add that mine usually don't struggle reading things out loud if they're at their comprehension level - if they did, I'd probably practice reading aloud more habitually.

Edited May 10, 2017 by luuknam

[ReadingMama1214]

I dropped it with oldest at the end of first grade, but several months later I regretted that decision. When he would occasionally read more complex texts to me (articles from Ask magazine, informational signs at museums and zoos, dictionary and encyclopedia entries, etc) he would really struggle with fluency and decoding longer words.

 

Mid-second grade I re-instituted daily read aloud practice. I wanted something open and go, so I bought Wise Owl Polysyllables. It has been so much better than I ever hoped it would be. It offers great practice with fluency and decoding multi-syllable words, but it also is a fabulous vocabulary resource. DS is learning all sorts of new words.

 

DS will be continuing WOP (one page a day) until it is done, and then we will probably start over and read through it again.

 

Wendy

We also do Wise Owl and do one page a day. It is fantastic.

[Momto4inSoCal]

In some form, never. Like reading comprehension, it should not be treated as a once and for all in the lower grades, but constantly expanded. Maybe it comes from having a child who has special problems with oral fluency but I feel that this area is neglected. My research into what can be done about our issues from an amateur, non-therapeutic point of view quickly led me to discover that in the nineteenth century, "elocution" was treated in detail through high school. In modern times most seem to be satisfied with adequate decoding of elementary school texts, not because they consciously say "elementary level is adequate" but because we have the common practice of dropping it after that stage; my ultimate goal would be completely developed expressive nuance with college-level texts. Of course the form it takes will vary as you go on. Reading at length from dc's usual books would be very tedious after a certain point. Like copywork, you might want to choose the best examples for this type of practice. I think poetry is very important in this connection.

I completely agree with this. I like having my older kids read books to the younger kids. It helps me and they get read aloud practice. My older kids are in 5th and 6th grade.

[HTRMom]

Not what you're asking, but reading aloud has been a lifelong pleasure for me. My husband and I have read dozens of books together in our four years of marriage. My sister and I read every Harry Potter, Narnia, and lots of random books out loud together during the summers in high school! It's an excellent alternative to TV.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Plateau Mama]

My youngest we stopped in 3rd grade. My middle wasnt until he went to school in 6th grade. He has always struggled with reading though. Still struggles with reading out loud at 15. That being said we just found out he is dyslexic so that explains a lot. My oldest was never homeschooled and taught herself to read at three so I have no clue when we stopped reading outloud. I know it was at least first grade.

[lulalu]

I would think through what your goal is. Do you just want to know and work on reading and phonics.(know your child can read) or do you want your child to read aloud well.

 

If you want your child to read aloud well until middle school is best at least once a week imo.

 

If you just want to be sure the skills of reading are good until child can pick up a chapter book and read without stumbling. So maybe reading at a 3rd grade level or so.

 

I just listened to this that has some good tips from Charlotte Mason and how she did it- http://www.adelectableeducation.com/2017/02/ADE69.html

 

When I was teaching I made sure that once a week each child had read aloud. I even did that with my 6th graders because I believe learning to read aloud well is important.

 

As a personal story I have a friend who is now a minister. He reads aloud awfully- stumbles and can't seem to get a flow. And it can be hard to listen to him read scripture. He speaks well just not reading. His mom has been a support in giving me advice on hs and she told me she wishes she had her kids read aloud past the learning to read stage. You just never know what the future holds for your kids and what skills they need.

[Earthmerlin]

If your child is reading fluently and comprehending what she reads and doesn't have an interest in reading allowed to you I don't see the point of making her.

 

I sometimes would read something to Mom that I thought was interesting but my biggest pleasure with reading was getting lost in the material and just surrounding myself with the images popping up as I would read silently to myself. It would have felt tedious and boring to have to read allowed to my mom a bunch at that age.

 

But every child and family is different. If you feel this is important, maybe just add it back in for a few minutes a couple of times a week or something...

Thanks for this. She's always been an expressive & precocious reader so I suppose I dropped it due to her apparent ease with decoding & comprehension. I like the idea of folding it back into the mix ever so slightly in order to keep little tabs on things. I was thinking non-fiction texts might be good since there are plenty of discipline-specific words they contain that can stretch her decoding & vocabulary skills. I also like another's post about poetry too though! Edited May 10, 2017 by Earthmerlin

[Earthmerlin]

We also do Wise Owl and do one page a day. It is fantastic.

Since you're the 2nd one to mention this resource, I shall check it out!

[Earthmerlin]

I would think through what your goal is. Do you just want to know and work on reading and phonics.(know your child can read) or do you want your child to read aloud well.

 

If you want your child to read aloud well until middle school is best at least once a week imo.

 

If you just want to be sure the skills of reading are good until child can pick up a chapter book and read without stumbling. So maybe reading at a 3rd grade level or so.

 

I just listened to this that has some good tips from Charlotte Mason and how she did it- http://www.adelectableeducation.com/2017/02/ADE69.html

 

When I was teaching I made sure that once a week each child had read aloud. I even did that with my 6th graders because I believe learning to read aloud well is important.

 

As a personal story I have a friend who is now a minister. He reads aloud awfully- stumbles and can't seem to get a flow. And it can be hard to listen to him read scripture. He speaks well just not reading. His mom has been a support in giving me advice on hs and she told me she wishes she had her kids read aloud past the learning to read stage. You just never know what the future holds for your kids and what skills they need.

Thanks for helping me clarify my thoughts by asking these questions. I believe I want continued proficiency in decoding & fluency as well as pleasant diction & expression. I like your story; it's food for thought. I have a nephew-in-law that read aloud horrendously to his younger cousin one time, so much so I stopped & walked into the room just to make sure I was hearing correctly, LOL!

[Ausmumof3]

Official readers stop once they are reading chapter books on their own. However we do read from the bible as a family sometimes and I will have the kids do some of the reading in chemistry or history so I can monitor that things are still progressing well.

[luuknam]

Oh, and I forgot, but CAP W&R has a little bit of read aloud stuff in it too - in Fable there was a play where we each took two roles to read aloud (after having preread them individually). And for the poems to memorize, one of us reads them aloud first before starting on the actual memory work (I think sometimes I read it aloud first, and other times my kid did).

[sdobis]

I tire easily when reading aloud to my older kids. I often ask them to read a few pages of our real alouds to give my voice a break. Maybe pick a book at her level and take turns reading.

[Mom27kidz]

Reading aloud is an art form. Have you ever gone a long time without reading aloud to your kids and then tried to read something significant?

It takes Practice of elocution, rhythm and sometimes difference if voices. I would personally make it a forever Practice....even for mom. :)

[knitgrl]

I have dd read a lesson from a grade level Catholic National Reader (very similar to McGuffy's) 1-3x a week. She's a voracious reader, but often skips over small words like "the" and occasionally mispronounces things. The plan is to continue until she no longer makes those mistakes.

[MerryAtHope]

I dropped "reading instruction" as a separate subject when my kids were reading fluently. I never dropped reading aloud (and it did afford times to help with higher level word attack skills--strange names, uncommon words, and so on). Well, I dropped it when they graduated from high school, LOL!

[barnwife]

I have dd read a lesson from a grade level Catholic National Reader (very similar to McGuffy's) 1-3x a week. She's a voracious reader, but often skips over small words like "the" and occasionally mispronounces things. The plan is to continue until she no longer makes those mistakes.

I want to know more about the Catholic National Reader. Do you know of a place I can see excerpts from one?

[winterbaby]

I want to know more about the Catholic National Reader. Do you know of a place I can see excerpts from one?

 

Google has the fifth year one, I couldn't find any others. The introduction has extensive notes on elocution similar to what I mentioned.

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=GZQAAAAAYAAJ

 

[knitgrl]

Huh. That is weird. I know for a fact that google books used to have the third reader within the past six months, but I can't find it there either. I suppose it only proves the ephemeral nature of the Internet. I have ordered mine from the Kolbe Academy, because they didn't have first or second grade. Here is a link to the one for first grade. They have some samples to look at there.

 

ETA: It is still weird, but you can find what titles they have by using the search terms "new fourth reader." You are looking for ones by Gilmour, since this search will also bring up a lot of other 19th century readers. The ones below were the only other ones I could find.

 

Here is the Fourth Reader.

Here is the Third Reader.

Edited May 10, 2017 by knitgrl

[Love Home]

My 7th grader still reads out loud but not as part of school. When we read novels out loud in the evenings she will take over when I'm tired.

Edited May 10, 2017 by Love Home

[Paige]

I dropped reading aloud when I thought they were fluent readers (maybe 2nd or 3rd grade)  and then regretted it several years down the road. I now require it for my 7th graders and would for my high schooler if he were still home. I think it is so valuable. You don't really know what words they are misunderstanding or mispronouncing without hearing it out loud. The rhythm of the speech when they read aloud will let you know if they understand and it helps to make them notice punctuation. I recommend never stopping.