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jawgee
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| Posted: Sept 03 2011 at 7:13pm | IP Logged
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My 9YO is reading The Swiss Family Robinson but really likes me to read it to him. He's always been an excellent reader, but I do feel like he retains more and comprehends more when he hears the reading instead of doing it independently.
He's definitely not used to reading books of "substance". He didn't get assignments like Swiss Family Robinson when he was in public school, that's for sure.
Thoughts? I don't mind reading aloud, for now, and he did read Prince Caspian on his own. Wondering how much I should be expecting of him considering his age and that this is his first year homeschooling.
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Monica
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MichelleW
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My family always has a read aloud going and my kids are 12, 13, and 14. They all have their own reading books in various subjects, but some books are meant to be shared and shared aloud! A good reader can make a good story even better.
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Michelle
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SeaStar
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| Posted: Sept 03 2011 at 8:09pm | IP Logged
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Ditto here. I hope my family will always read aloud together. My ds is an auditory learner. He loves to listen to me read to or listen to books on tapes.
He is happiest and learns best when he has something in his hands to fool with- a pencil and paper, clay, legos, anything. It's just how he is. I have learned not to fight it but roll with it. Books on tape are a beautiful thing 
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jawgee
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| Posted: Sept 03 2011 at 8:19pm | IP Logged
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Wondered everyone's opinion because I just came across this CM quote:
Reading to Children--It is a delight to older people to read aloud to children, but this should be only an occasional treat and indulgence, allowed before bedtime, for example. We must remember the natural inertness of a child's mind; give him the habit of being read to, and he will steadily shirk the labour of reading for himself; indeed, we all like to be spoon-fed with our intellectual meat, or we should read and think more for ourselves and be less eager to run after lectures.
(Vol. 1 Part VIII--Reading for Older Children, p.228)
Of course, I don't know what age range she means when she specifies "older" children.
DH is generally doing a family read-aloud at bedtime. Wonder if I should give DS another book to read for himself (perhaps with language that is a little easier), and then we will continue Swiss Family Robinson together. (??)
Anyway, suggestions/opinions welcome. Thanks.
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Monica
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Mackfam
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I think it's fine if this is the read aloud for your son, and you're not reading every.single.book aloud to him. Swiss Family Robinson is not an easy book for a 9yo. CM was concerned that too many books might be read aloud as a crutch, rather than a youngster stretching themselves a bit in reading independently; even challenging books should be read independently. However, I don't think she would have given a child a book that over-stretched them, especially outside their ability to comprehend. This is one of those Mommy-instincts trumps educational philosophies areas anyway! I've learned to really watch my kids for cues regarding books about which they communicate challenges. Some books are either very difficult to read, or not interesting to the child, or both. You may just need to get to the root of WHY he's asking you to read aloud...or you may know already.
Is he enjoying the book?
Does he want to continue reading it?
How many other read alouds are you doing already? (Any others besides the family read aloud with dad?)
Is he reading independently fairly well?
Does he have a generous number of other books that he's reading independently already?
I'm going to make the assumption that he is reading a number of other good and worthy books independently. If so....
IF....he's really enjoying the book, and you don't have a number (3 or more) of other read alouds going already, I'd say, sure - read it aloud to him.
IF....he's not really enthused about it, I'd probably shelve it for a bit. 9 yo might be a stretch to read Swiss Family independently, at least for my 9 yos.
IF....you're already doing a number of read alouds, but you know he'd really like to continue reading Swiss Family, I'd probably read it aloud, but at a super-duper slow pace (like 1 page/day) while you finish the other read alouds, and then pick up the pace to more normal once you finish the other read alouds.
Hope that perspective is a help, Monica!
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: Sept 05 2011 at 5:32am | IP Logged
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Monica, I hope you don't mind me jumping on your thread...
My seven year old is a fluent reader, but he still wants me to read his school books- the ones I am having him narrate from- with him. I make him read them aloud to me, though, instead of me reading aloud to him.
Should I be making him read them silently and then narrating?
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Sept 05 2011 at 7:01am | IP Logged
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7 is a very young reader, Krista. I read aloud pretty much everything to my 7yo right now, with the exception of a couple of books he reads to me. He narrates from two of his books that we read. So, I think we're doing the same thing, really! I think you're doing fine!
This is my chance for solidifying good habits with regard to reading, and for a while that's where I put my effort and focus with my young readers.
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guitarnan
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Jim Trelease, in his book The Read-Aloud Handbook, advocates reading aloud through high school. His belief is that reading aloud helps children associate reading with positive feelings (pleasure, security, time with parents) and thus encourages them to continue reading throughout their lives. Reading aloud helps children build their vocabulary, too.
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JodieLyn
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yes yes yes.. what they said.. just think of it as two categories what the child reads for school and what the family reads together for pleasure.
And just another side note with my opinion. Crutches are wonderful things when you have a broken leg. And if you have a child that struggles, not for lack of trying, read alouds (books on tape) may be the very thing that keeps the DESIRE to read alive in the struggling reader.
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kristinannie
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I saw a talk by Andrew Pudewa at the IHM conference that really resonated with me. He was talking about the two greatest predictors of success in writing. They were memorization and reading aloud. Memorization works because kids commit phrases to memory that help them write later on. He cited research that showed that kids actually incorporate the phrasing into their every day speech and writing. Reading aloud is important because kids hear proper and difficult English spoken aloud. When you think about the language most kids hear, it is not encouraging. Most kids hear their peers for several hours a day at school (and studies have shown that kids will talk down to the level of the peer with the least vocabulary), hear TV (which is definitely dumbed down) and hear their parents. Luckily, homeschooled kids usually are around better language since they aren't with their peers all day and they usually don't watch as much TV. However, reading aloud is so important because they hear the words instead of just reading them. This can also be acheived by listening to well done audio books. Pudewa cited some research that most avid readers tend to skim more than actually reading and read books in the same way you watch a movie. This is why reading aloud is so important. I know I didn't do justice to his talk, but you can purchase it here.
I am planning on having a family read aloud throughout our homeschooling experience. I think it is a great way for the whole family to get together every day and enjoy a book together.
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jawgee
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| Posted: Sept 05 2011 at 11:05am | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
Is he enjoying the book?
Does he want to continue reading it?
How many other read alouds are you doing already? (Any others besides the family read aloud with dad?)
Is he reading independently fairly well?
Does he have a generous number of other books that he's reading independently already?
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Thanks for this perspective, Jen!
He LOVES the book, actually he usually begs for me to read more, but I stop at a chapter a day (there are over 40 chapters). He is very good at independent reading, but, like a lot of kids his age, his comprehension lags behind.
Anyway, we have three or four read-alouds going at most times. My 9YO is reading his history on his own and narrates to me on it every day.
I guess we'll continue on and I won't worry about him using me to get out of reading on his own. The book is challenging for someone his age to read independently.
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Monica
C (12/2001), N (11/2005), M (5/2008), J (8/2009) and three angels
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: Sept 05 2011 at 1:37pm | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
7 is a very young reader, Krista. I read aloud pretty much everything to my 7yo right now, with the exception of a couple of books he reads to me. He narrates from two of his books that we read. So, I think we're doing the same thing, really! I think you're doing fine!
This is my chance for solidifying good habits with regard to reading, and for a while that's where I put my effort and focus with my young readers. |
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Thanks, Jen. that is a very good point about using this time to solidify good reading habits. That was very helpful.
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Krista
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: 9YO wants read-aloud
