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nicole-amdg
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| Posted: April 26 2007 at 4:48pm | IP Logged
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Does anyone have any suggestions for getting a 2-4 year old boy to agree to be read to? I had this trouble with my oldest son, who is now almost 8. When he and my daughter were this age he would not listen to a story even for the sake of sitting in my lap. I just tried to read to them while he played nearby...He's still not a fluent reader, though he loves to listen now.
Now my next son is 3, and he's just not interested. And with 6 instead of 2 at family read-aloud time, well, he just doesn't stick around. I think the earlier read-aloud experiences (or lack of?) and slow fluency are correlated, and I think they're both kinesthetic learners (ds#1 certainly is), and I'd really like to do more for ds#2. I thought of related drawing or coloring pages during story time. Any other ideas?
Previous thread suggestions are welcome too!
Nicole
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Mary G
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| Posted: April 26 2007 at 5:50pm | IP Logged
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Nicole,
My youngest (4yob) is what we would call...hmmm.....active. Often he won't sit still for read-alouds or will only sit still for part of it. But that's ok. As long as he's in the room, he's hearing the story. I often have him play K'nex, lego, lincoln logs, color whatever and as long as he's quiet, that's perfect. You also might ask your older son to pick a read-aloud for your younger son to listen to....sometimes if the older sibling is responsible for the book (either reading it or picking it) the younger one will be more enthusiastic....
Does the younger son have an interest yet? When my middle son was that age, he was already VERY interested in knights and so we tried to do read-alouds with knights, dragons, castles, etc. Or my younger daughter loves dolls so read-alouds wit dolls in them worked for her....
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: April 26 2007 at 10:38pm | IP Logged
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My 4yo has just recently started sitting for stories (and even then he doesn't always stay for the whole book). Often, he will still say that he's not interested, but as soon as I start reading aloud (to myself), he'll come over to look at pictures and listen. It helps if the 5yo is already listening. What helps even more is if I go sit in my bed to read. He loves cuddling in bed to hear a story.
Another thing that helps is to let him pick books (often dePaola -- Bill and Pete or Strega Nona -- or Clifford books are his choices). I alternate a book of his choice with one I've chosen that I think he'll like.
We also read aloud at night while the kids are in bed. Usually these are chapter books, but sometimes the books are shorter (Beatrix Potter or Brambly Hedge) and I read without showing the kids the pictures. (They look at the pics during the day.)
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BrendaPeter
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| Posted: April 27 2007 at 5:38am | IP Logged
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My 8-year-old ds is very imaginative so even if he's there with us, he's often not listening. I interrupt the story on a fairly regular basis & ask him to tell me what is going on so that I he can re-focus.
I recently re-read "The Well-Trained Mind" and it inspired me to have the kids (especially my non-readers) listen to books on tape during "quiet" time in the afternoons. That seems to be helping my son develop "the habit of attention".
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JenniferS
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| Posted: April 27 2007 at 7:19am | IP Logged
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Three of my sons were/are like this. It was especially frustrating after a dd that loved to be read to from the day she was born. My oldest ds finally sat still for stories around the age of five, I think. The other ds is currently three and not interested in sitting still for long. I see the seventeen month old following in his footsteps. I tried not to worry about it too much. One day oldest ds just sat down and listened, and he has continued. Hoping ds#4 and DS #5 follow his example!
I like the idea of listening to books on tape, and our library seems to have many. I'll try that, I think.
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stacykay
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Good advice- I would just add, don't give up and keep on reading. Even if ds never develops a passion for reading, he will have heard many great stories from you.
My 12yods was never "into" books, and I would do the read-aloud everyday. In the past two months, he has been bitten by the reading bug, and is now reading 2 or 3 books a week.
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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Maryan
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| Posted: April 27 2007 at 9:12am | IP Logged
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Nicole --
Just another thought...My boys seem to be very interested in books and I don't think *I* have done anything to instill it.
I attribute it to the fact that my dh reads several books to them at night while they lie in their beds. And what's great is that my dh didn't grow up being a avid book reader -- but he sees it as attractive, so wants to read to his sons. (I do think boys imitate their dads' interests). And we're blessed that his work schedule enables him to have time to do this most of the year.
And we do a lot of books on tape as suggested as well.
But boys being boys -- I wouldn't worry to much about it either as you said about the book bug biting later!
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Maryan
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nicole-amdg
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| Posted: April 28 2007 at 12:03am | IP Logged
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I never thought of books on tape as encouraging reading. What a great idea--I can use headphones sometimes, too--my kids love headphones. We've tossed around the idea of making our own tapes. I'll bet my daughter would love to do this, and it would probably encourage all my kids to get more hands-on and cultivate favorite stories.
I love the idea of dh regularly reading to the kids, especially the boys. I'll see if we can work this into our routine.
I remember this tape series when I was younger called "Little Thinker"--it had a theme and a narrator who met various characters throughout a sort of story-journey. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Anyway, there were regular breaks in the story line to "discuss" what was going on, and then some music for the child/listener to do illustrations. This memory has been teasing the edges of my thinking every now and then--I'll bet I could do something similar during reading time. Ds#2 loves to color.
Nicole
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JodieLyn
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My 8 almost 9 year old doesn't typically sit still for read alouds either.. he's wandering around the room playing something or other.. but I can stop at just about any time and ask him what I just read and he's usually able to give it back word for word.. so I don't worry about the playing around as long as he's within hearing and is quiet enough that I don't have to shout to be heard 
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Boys and listening to read-alouds
