I am reading too much to my 3.11 year old! How many books do you read to your preschooler?

[pomegranate1975]

I read to my son 10-25 books every evening. These are PM books level 1-5. I think its too much as he just want me to keep reading. I test him also what the book its about and he answers correctly. So is this normal to read this many books? I am so exhausted reading all the time. I repeat the same books twice. How many times should i reread the same book?
How many books do you read to your preschooler?

[jkklpu]

Sounds like a lot in one sitting - do you mean at bedtime or just in the course of afternoon/evening. Why don't you try setting a number and he has free choice, e.g. say he can make a pile of 5 books and you'll read any he chooses, even if some are longer than others.

[SweepTheHalls]

Er, 1 long isg or 2 short ish before bed. Enough to wind down and encourage sleep.

[MrsCosmopilite]

We probably read 5-8 books a day, occasionally more.

I don't know what specific level they are but they range from simple books (the ones for first learning to read) to things like The Gruffalo and more complex stories for up to and including 5 year olds.

Evenings are 2 stories max before bedtime.

I'm happy that DD (just turned 3) wants to learn to read - she'll point to the words on the pages as you're reading, but can only 'recognise' a few words - but I don't want to overstimulate her!

[BigBoobiedBertha]

25 books sounds like way too many, 10 is a lot even but it is more about time than the number of books. I reckon half an hour is enough and if that means reading the same book 10 times or 10 different books it doesn't matter.

If it is exhausting to you then you have to stop it. Your DS is, in the nicest possible way, exerting too much control over you. Yes, it is good to read to your child and it is great that he understands what is being read and everything but there have to be limits. Do you think he is trying to put off going to bed? Is it a delaying tactic to keep you with him?

FWIW, I used to read about 5 books to my book mad DS1 when he was a toddler, giving him a warning when we were coming to the last one. I used to hear him on the baby monitor afterwards reciting them to himself, virtually word perfect so clearly I was reading them a lot. I don't think that there is a limit to how many times a book should be reread if your DS is enjoying it but I do think there should be a limit on the number of times you are re-reading it in one sitting.

Mind you, I have to say, trips to the library where exhausting - we could sit there for a good hour looking at the same handful of books over and over again but better then than at bedtime.

[Guardianto2]

If he wants you to read, is happy to sit and listen and you don't mind i don't really see a problem with it.

[Vijac]

I'm with guardian. As long as it is not the whole day and he is getting some exercise, then I don't see the problem with lots of reading. Equally, if you're not enjoying it, don't feel obliged to keep going so long. Books are a fantastic thing to be interested in and give a head start in education.

[LouiseSmith]

My DS goes through fazes of wanting books daily, to not wanting one for a few x

[BobbyO]

Tip: Try encouraging your DS to re-tell some of the stories back to you or line teddies up for an audience. It's part of the process for when they learn to read; Being able to re-tell them back in sequence and pointing to where the words are and also describing the story events and characters.