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Claire F
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| Posted: Feb 16 2013 at 1:31pm | IP Logged
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I had an epiphany about my 5 1/2 year old recently. He rarely will sit with me for a read aloud, unless the book has pictures. If he doesn't have something to look at, he loses interest very quickly. He's still very young, and I'm not requiring him to sit with us during every read aloud. I make sure we have good picture books to read so he gets the all the benefits of reading aloud with me. But I realized that his combination of being a wiggly little boy and being very visual is probably why he doesn't like to sit and listen without some visual stimulation. The light bulb went on in my brain when I realized - he's THAT visual, just listening is very hard for him.
I know age and maturity will help - he's still very young. But I am thinking about how I can help him participate in read alouds more. I invite him to color or draw while I read, and sometimes that helps, but he doesn't always want to.
I have lots of hope that he'll one day enjoy reading non-picture books (he is JUST like my husband, who is also extremely visual, and he is an avid reader, so I hope my son will become one as well). But so much of what we do is centered around books and in the next couple of years, I'm going to need him to be able to listen and pay attention when I read, with or without pictures.
Any thoughts on teaching a very visual learner?
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Claire
Mom to DS 12/04, DS 5/07, DD 8/09
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Feb 16 2013 at 1:40pm | IP Logged
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Sometimes my younger boys will look through a completely different picture book while I read chapter books aloud. They really are still listening to me:)
Also, building with lego, doing puzzles, etc... go well with listening to a read aloud.
My boys don't always "sit" with me for reading, either. They move around a LOT. I think at that age, you may just need to have read alouds happen in the same room and not expect them to appear to be attentive, so long as they aren't actually disruptive.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Erin
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| Posted: Feb 20 2013 at 6:39am | IP Logged
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Claire
Another thought is to focus on picture books for older children, quite meaty, very long, so visually working towards strengthening his attention span.
In this conversation I recommended Worth a Thousand Words, - Bette D Ammon, Gale W Sherman An Annotated Guide To Picture Books for Older Readers. Some great suggestions there.
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Erin
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Claire F
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| Posted: Feb 20 2013 at 3:32pm | IP Logged
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Thank you!
I need to keep that in mind - that even if he appears to not be listening, perhaps he really is. I might gently ask a few questions about what I've read and see if he's hearing me.
I've also thought about my location - if I'm on their bed in their room, he can be playing/building in the room (where he often spends his time) and still hear me read. That might help too.
Erin, I love that idea, thank you! I wish-listed the book on Amazon, so when I have some book funds I can pick it up. There were a number of very affordable used copies available, so I bet I'll be able to pick it up used.
Thanks!!
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Claire
Mom to DS 12/04, DS 5/07, DD 8/09
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: Feb 22 2013 at 1:47pm | IP Logged
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I too find that my boys are sometimes listening even when they look like they are distracted. It's hard for them to hold still!
This thread brought to mind 49 ways to narrate. I don't know why! Some of the things on that list would work during read alouds -- ds pantomiming the action as you read, coloring, playing with flannel board (or legos), playing with clay (or wax), drawing the main characters on popsicle sticks (puppets).
One thing that worked for us was to have the little ones look at picture book versions of what we were reading. Of course, not all chapter books have coordinating picture books, but Narnia, Little House on the Prairie, Winnie the Pooh are all great books that do. Listening to books on tape in the car also helped to expand their attention span.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Read alouds for the very visual child
