At what age do you stop reading to your kids?

[bigiszi]

A friend and I were discussing this - her daughter reads for herself now pretty well but she is also still asking to be read to - she is nearly 11 though (xmas baby). We are wondering when you stopped/will stop reading to your kids?

[Sadik]

I stopped a bit after dd was at secondary - it just naturally came to an end maybe around 12 or so. She'd been a fluent reader for years, but we enjoyed the time together so I carried on.

[shapeshifter88]

10ish i think, whenever they could read fluently themselves and werent interested in doing it together any more

[AnneOfCleavage]

Was still reading to DD when in year 8 /9 but now in year 10 it's sporadically as she has lots of h/w but I will still read when ever she asks me - mostly weekends. My DM read to us til quite old but that's prob because I listened in on younger siblings story time but if it was a book I loved then I quote happily sat in to listen and vowed I'd do the same with my DC.

[bigiszi]

It occured to me how much I enjoy being read to - my partner read a bit of the book he was reading aloud to me over breakfast the other weekend. I've now nicked it and it is sat in my office.

I have a different friend who is a bit unhappy her daughter seems to have stopped reading (she's 13) and puts the blame on herself for stopping bedtime reading to her... I'm wondering if she is right?

[Witchend]

When they want to.
Dd1 that was about 5yo when she discovered Rainbow Fairies.

Dd2 was younger, not older than 4yo unless she was ill.


I still read to ds who is 11yo.


I hate/hated being read to even as a young child. I like to discover a story on my own. Flip back to check things, reread bits I like. Dip in and out of favourite books etc. Dd2 is exactly the same. I'd try to read to her and she'd be trying to wrestle the book off me to read it herself.
I suspect dd1 might well have continued being read to for another year or two if she hadn't got a younger sibling whose story was first and me pregnant (and being sick), so I'd read to dd2 and then come through and she'd have started reading and not want to stop. If I'd just put her into bed and read to her, I don't think she'd have said not to.


They've all been similar reading abilities right the way up, and although dd2 is the biggest bookworm, they'll all spend times curled up reading to themselves, although in dd1's case it's more often on a tablet than a book now.

[BlueChampagne]

Still read to DS1 (11) just not every night. He is a great reader, but still likes some wind-down time sometimes, and I read things he wouldn't necessarily pick up himself.

[hels71]

Still read to DD who is 11. My dad officially stopped reading to be when I started secondary school, but I just used to listen in to my younger siblings! If he is reading to dd I still listen, and I am 47!!!

[bionicnemonic]

Still sometimes read to DS 16, not at night, but we do a chapter after supper if we’re sat on the sofa sometimes just to broaden things away from where he’d normally read.

[EasilyDistracted77]

I still read with my 11yo, we are working our way through Harry Potter together. To be honest, it's a rare chance for one-on-one time together and I hope it will last a while longer yet.

[SputnikBear]

My DF still reads to me sometimes while we enjoy a nice cuppa, and I’m 40.

[user1499422380]

As a retired English teacher (who taught from EYU to A level over a lengthy career!) I would say: keep reading to/with your kids as long as everyone likes to do it. We started reading to ours from an early stage (i.e. at days old-found this calmed both me and the baby); reading together continued well into their teens. We loved reading with them, they appeared to appreciate reading with us. In fact, reading books together is a lifetime activity-now we read to elderly parents. Never give up!

[Pliudev]

I really enjoyed it but stopped when they asked me to. I got to read a lot of books I'd missed out on as a child. It lasted until the youngest was about 11 I think. This was very annoying because I had to buy a copy of the last HP just for me.

[CaptainNelson]

I am just about ending the Lord of the Rings trilogy with my 10 yr old. He loves being read to and I try to choose books he wouldn't read to himself, such as this one, which is a bit (!) long winded at times and has some old fashioned language. With the older children, it was about 9 or 10 when we stopped, but I do regret it now, as both of them stopped reading more or less in their early teens (tho' DS2 (15) is starting to get back into reading again now).

[Gugglebum]

I read a book to my kids last summer when my oldest was 16. He and the 11 and 8 year old loved it. They would ask whether we were reading each night. To be fair it was a really good book. Relevant to my kids. The younger ones enjoyed parts. It creates this really nice environment, like a secret or language that we share and discuss. I’ll keep it up as long as they let me!

[BlackInk]

I think I'd mostly stopped by the time my DC were about 5 or 6. They were both reading chapter books and had pretty much grown out of picture books. They're perfectly happy to read to themselves (and out loud to me a few times a week for school). I feel a bit sad that this time has passed, but it's one less thing I have to find time for every day. We read to them every night from when they were little babies, though, and they do both really love to read now.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

We still read to DD who is 11 but it’s becoming more infrequent. I think DS was around the same age when we stopped reading to him.

[Mariama90]

I still read to mine ( 9,13,15 & 17) it’s actually gone from reading to..to reading with and they take it in turns to do the choosing and reading. We’re deeply into the Gerald Durrel books at the moment, quite hard to read when the reader starts corpsing....sometime before the sentence is finished....! But then there’s nothing funnier than someone else losing the plot. We read The Diary of Ann frank before this so we all needed to laugh. I absolutely adore being read to...so I can’t see a time when we stop, although I know it must come eventually

[Jen69]

Never.

[GlomOfNit]

Why stop? People (adults I mean) used to read to one another of an evening as a matter of course. Reading out loud is a much-underrated pleasure. It encourages discussion and togetherness and sharing an interest. By all means stop if your child doesn't want to any longer, but please don't think it 'has' to stop at some point. The books just get more mature.

I find it a good way to introduce DS1 (10) to books that maybe I'd be reluctant to let him tackle alone - Dark Materials for instance, and the new Book of Dust book, which has fairly adult themes, but he wants to know more about that universe now we've read the trilogy, and if I continue reading them to him we can discuss as we go. DS1 is a very able reader and reading to him hasn't held him back in any way. Normally, we'll read him a bit of the current book for 20 minutes and then say goodnight, and he continues to read for another 20 or so with whatever he's reading to himself.

[HelenaJustina]

Still reading to mine, oldest is 11.

[HelenaJustina]

As above, it tends to be the more challengingly themed books or ones that they see as off-putting due to size/density etc

[Youngandfree]

I can’t believe some of you stop at 5/6 😮 I feel like my little girl is still only learning to read (because she is) so needs me to read a story (and enjoys it) although she does read her school book to me daily too.we’re in rep of Ireland they seem to take a slower approach to learning in the first few years here. Oh well!

[MsAwesomeDragon]

Dd1 wanted to stop at about 7. I was quite sad about it, but rather glad I didn't have to struggle through another twee rainbow fairies (or similar) book.

Dd2 is 8 and still loves being read to, and we've got audiobook CDs for the car. I've persuaded her into slightly better books, like Anne Fine or Michael Morpurgo. She likes sad books, and laughs at me when I get upset and can't finish a sentence because it's too sad (honestly, Michael Morpurgo should have warning labels attached).