Do you limit the amount of time your child reads?

[Malenki]

Our 8 yo son reads... and reads... and reads. My husband has asked me to limit his reading and I randomly picked 2 hours as a maximum for him to read to himself. I'm sort of feeling out here if this is a reasonable amount of time. Too much? Too little?

 

He gets other things done... schoolwork, chores, an hour of walking the dog with us, outside free play time for 60-90 minutes, free art time (drawing), read alouds from me, meals with the family, wrestling with dad, etc. We might be able to squeeze in one more hour of "self reading" time without affecting the rest of life.

 

Do you even limit at all? It seems funny to have to put a maximum on it but the reality is when we've left him to his own devices he's gladly read for 6 or more hours.

[purplemama]

My son does the 6 hours at a time kind of reading in phases. He usually does it when we are in between sports seasons and he makes up the time he would be at practices in the evening with reading. The only thing we limit is electronics/computer time. My kids don't watch tv, and only the occasional movie as a family, but they do play on a Wii games system and some computer games. My son would also do this endlessly, so we limit that. I do not limit reading, unless it is bedtime!

 

Jennifer

[AudreyTN]

As long as he gets everything else done... I wouldn't worry about it. :) (wishing I had that problem....)

[kamom]

I limit her dd7 to one chapter book a day, and only in free time, which adds up to about 3 hrs if she spends her evening reading. She usually wants to play some in the evening so that distracts her.

So youre not the only one!

[Sasharowan]

We mostly set limits along the lines of as long as he is participating in other activities, not ignoring guests, and is willing to stop and do as we wish, whether it is help with chores or do something as a family.

[mama2cntrykids]

I agree, as long as it's not interfering with other things, why not. My 8 yr. old ds is the SAME way, lol. I don't know how many times I've asked him to stop reading at the dinner table. He truly IS my book-eater! I figure it's way better than watching tv or playing video games. Also like your ds, he does do plenty of other things too.

[pooh bear]

I agree with the other posters, so long as it is not interfering with his other stuff, let him read as much as he wants.

 

My ds reads whilst taking the trash out, tiding his room and vacuuming.

 

I do put my foot down when we have guests or at meals times. Except breakfast, I can't tell him not to read a book whilst I'm reading the newspaper.

[Night Elf]

If it's not interfering with the rest of his responsibilities, why would your DH want to limit him? What does your DH want your son to be doing instead?

[Snickerdoodle]

I don't limit the time my bookworms read unless they haven't done their chores. They are super active kids who never miss a chance for active play so I'm not really worried about them being too sedentary.

[nmoira]

Do you even limit at all? It seems funny to have to put a maximum on it but the reality is when we've left him to his own devices he's gladly read for 6 or more hours.

Generally not, but we have the following limits: no non-school books can be within reach (even if closed) during school; no books while we're getting ready to go out; no books after lights out (DD the Elder would stay awake, reading by a nightlight, until 3 or 4am otherwise); no books when guests are over specifically to visit the children unless the guest suggests it.

 

We'd never get anything done otherwise.

[Peela]

As long as everything else is getting done, I wouldnt worry about it.

 

we did have a teenage guest once who read at the dinner table and all weekend, even though she was visiting my step daughter. Thats when i realised reading could really be an unhealthy escape. We asked her not to read at the table- that's just rude when you're visiting.

 

I imagine your son will change his reading habits as he gets older. He may be just really enjoying all those inner worlds opening up right now, and sometimes its best to ride those waves when they happen because developmentally, they are appropriate.

[Ellie]

I cannot fathom the idea of doing such a thing.

 

:confused:

 

He should be required to do chores and Official School Stuff and all that, but when he's finished with his other responsibilities, his time should be his own.

[Corraleno]

:iagree:

with everyone else -- if your son is getting his work done, and getting in plenty of active play, why would you want to limit his reading?

 

I was one of those kids who always had a book in my hand; I think I would have been confused and upset if my parents told me I could only read 2 hours/day. That would have seemed like a terrible punishment to me, especially since my only "crime" was loving to read!

 

Jackie

[JenneinCA]

I have limited time spent reading before. My daughter would read for as many hours a day as possible. Yes I have suggested watching tv instead of reading books. I have suggested playing with toys. I have suggested almost anything. I even encouraged playing video games. (None of these actually worked.)

 

Ultimately my daughter would rather live in the fantasy world in books than the real world. She is significantly different than other children her age. Sometimes I let her live in fantasy land. Sometimes I require that she live here.

 

I hope that someday she will find true peers and she will want to live here emotionally. Unfortunately I can't say when or if that will happen.

[Julie of KY]

Generally, I don't limit too much.

 

I make sure schoolwork is done before free reading. I limit computer/media time. I insist on him putting down the book and going outside on nice days. I make sure he goes to bed with time to freely read before going to sleep. I do make him put the book down and turn off the light before I go to bed. Most days he has other activities that take a chunk of time, but other days he has his nose in a book most of the day.

[chaik76]

Nope. I was a kid who read 6+ hours a day in summer and spent the evenings reading during the school year. As long as other things get done (School, chores) and there is no rudeness (reading at the dinner table) I just can't see a reason to limit reading. Is there a reason your dh wants to limit reading? It sounds like your son does a ton of other stuff, too...:confused:

[PeterPan]

I don't limit reading, but I have increased the amount of outside time I require. 60-90 minutes a day is actually low. Trying upping it to 2-3 hours and see what happens. The only reason to limit reading is to increase something else. But like the others, I have had to take away books that she become addicted to and was reading fanatically, in an imbalanced way. I've also had times where I had to emphasize that school time was my time, not for her private reading. So during school time she can read books I give her (history topics, lit, etc.). But she squeezes in her own reading in so many places, especially in the bathroom hehe, I don't see how you could set some arbitrary limit. Just increase whatever is getting neglected, that's my two cents. His outside/run-around time sounds low.

 

Oh, I missed your hour dog walk. Well I still think lots of run around time is good. But I wouldn't limit, just replace.

[katilac]

I don't limit reading, although I do encourage dd to participate in a variety of activities, and I require things like so much active play and so much outdoor time.

 

My oldest, 10yrs, reads for FAR MORE than two hours a day, and I can't imagine limiting her to that. Heck, I can't imagine limiting MYSELF to that, and my schedule is much fuller than hers!

 

Six hours for her is certainly not unusual, although other commitments mean it's not an everyday occurence. She would definitely be happy reading 6+ hours every day! It's a rare day that my 8 yr old doesn't read more than 2 hours a day, but she isn't as single-minded.

 

I find a strict limit on reading rather strange, I admit. Have you already imposed the limit, or discussed it? If not, I'd consider simply keeping an eye to ds, and adding in/suggesting other activities.

 

Honestly, it sounds like he does a good many other things already, but you could add in game night, go on extra outings, etc if you want to broaden his horizons.

 

What I think you'll find, though, is that reading for several hours a day is quite typical for strong students. He is gaining a tremendous amount of background knowledge that will serve him well; why prevent that?

 

If dh is dead set on a limit, then I would say that 2 hours is not enough.

[Malenki]

Thanks so much for the polite and insightful comments!

 

The reason DH is concerned is that DS tends to slip into fantasy/pretend land very, very easily. He'd like him to be "with us in reality" a bit more often. He is so lost in his book that he forgets to acknowledge people at times (or jump up and come running with the rest of us when his brother fell down the stairs and was crying hysterically...). But I can see instead of doing a time limit we could have a "book free" time when Papa is home so that DH has time with him that's actually interactive.

 

He *is* getting things done and with a good attitude usually. I try to give him a warning (lunch in five minutes) so he can get to a good breaking point; he's never complained about having to put his book down. As for the outside time, it will rise when we have nicer weather. But in the winter it can be pretty miserable and in the height of summer it can be just as bad.

 

You all have given me some reassurance and gave me an idea how to give DH what he wants (some time with his son) without making me the stopwatch. I think DH will be fine as long as everything else continues to get done!

[KristenS]

I used to get grounded from reading as a punishment. LOL. But other than that, no limits ... we were reasonably active in life so it was okay.

 

Some people just get very deep into books when they read, and don't hear what's going on around them ... that's normal. Sounds like what your son does? It's not being obsessed with the book, just being well focused on it. My dh is like that with the computer ... I have to get his attention to speak with him when he's programming or gaming, and he knows he has to get my attention if I have a book in front of me. Just the way we are.

[katilac]

Thanks so much for the polite and insightful comments!

 

The reason DH is concerned is that DS tends to slip into fantasy/pretend land very, very easily. He'd like him to be "with us in reality" a bit more often. He is so lost in his book that he forgets to acknowledge people at times (or jump up and come running with the rest of us when his brother fell down the stairs and was crying hysterically...). But I can see instead of doing a time limit we could have a "book free" time when Papa is home so that DH has time with him that's actually interactive.

 

He *is* getting things done and with a good attitude usually. I try to give him a warning (lunch in five minutes) so he can get to a good breaking point; he's never complained about having to put his book down. As for the outside time, it will rise when we have nicer weather. But in the winter it can be pretty miserable and in the height of summer it can be just as bad.

 

You all have given me some reassurance and gave me an idea how to give DH what he wants (some time with his son) without making me the stopwatch. I think DH will be fine as long as everything else continues to get done!

 

That sounds like a pretty good compromise! And, if it makes you feel any better, I missed my b-i-l asking for my sister's hand in marriage because I was reading a book and didn't notice something was going on, lol.

[Hoggirl]

:tongue_smilie:

[Malenki]

That sounds like a pretty good compromise! And, if it makes you feel any better, I missed my b-i-l asking for my sister's hand in marriage because I was reading a book and didn't notice something was going on, lol.

 

Well, that certainly takes the cake. :lol: