Another thrilling book band question re white/level 10!

[tiredbutnotweary]

For mums of children reading white/level 10 books (or beyond if you can remember back to when they were reading at this level) - how quickly do your DC get through them?

Last night DD had a play date and did no reading homework

She squeezed in 1 chapter this morning. If we did this every night then it would take 4 nights for her to finish the book.

Which got me wondering - are other DC reading this sort of book more quickly (DD still likes to peruse the pictures, chat about things and laugh at the silly jokes, so to read all four chapters would probably take about half an hour+).

[Periwinkle007]

it depends what book it is. What is the title/make?

[IHeartKingThistle]

DD is on white. Unless she's really into the story we can't get through a whole story at bedtime any more, but that's ok by me. The talking about the pictures/chatting stuff is brilliant too.

[tiredbutnotweary]

There're from a range, mostly Big Cat Collins I think, with 4 chapters, about 25 - 30 pages (I think), some pages with a small amount of text and others with a decent amount.

This sort of thing.

[DeWe]

Once they were onto chapter books then I often would get them to read the first chapter to me, and read the others to themselves.
And then we'd discuss the books afterwards. All mine have problems with wanting to finish any book they start asap.

[tiredbutnotweary]

Thanks IHeart!

[thestringcheesemassacre]

We do them in 2/3 sittings.

[Periwinkle007]

Is it a treetops allstars one? (guessing because you said 4 chapters) They are 48 pages? is that right?

probably read in 1 night, more like 1.5 if a lot of text. but she likes to get school books done so she can do her own books. The ones she is currently getting which are a higher box in her school are old small chapter books of 48 pages and she reads them in under 20 minutes including discussion time, admiring the pictures (she LOVES pictures and artwork)

our school say 20 mins reading a day and IF she likes the book and IF she is keen then she can read an awful lot in that time. if she DOESN'T like the book then she would read more slowly and chit chat a lot more and 'remember things she needs to tell me' etc.

Some people do read slower than others, no reason for it, they just do. I would probably expect a 48 page book to be a 2 night read at this sort of level but it does depend on the amount of text, some have many more pictures than others, some have smaller font etc. I think one danger with some early chapter books is the chapters are short but 1 chapter seems a good amount to read. Think back to how long it would have taken her to read say ORT stage 8 Magic Key which if I remember right is 32 pages, about 4 sentences a page. if that was a 2 night read then the all stars books probably are a 4 night read. If it was a 1 night read then try and look at the equivalent amount of text in the allstars book and you will probably find it is about 2 chapters. Is this making sense? Some of it is psychological I think, you think you have done a chapter thats great but in reality it is less than they were reading before.

I would just decide an amount of time to read for - depending on age, 20 mins is suggested in our Yr1 and then stick to that (although wave it if tired or nearly end of chapter or whatever) and just see how much she covers in that time rather than a set amount of book. some pages will be full text and others will have virtually no words. I also noticed on some that the last chapter is quite a bit longer than the first couple.

[Periwinkle007]

ah ok - completely different books to the ones I am referring to then, ignore me.

I get my daughter to read to me if it is a school book, if a home book she can read to herself if she wants to but she enjoys reading to us and I think it helps as she can ask what words mean or about different sentence structure etc as and when it comes up.

[redskyatnight]

Depends.
With DS we read them tortuously a few pages a night (he hated reading). So they could take weeks.

With DD she would read aloud to me for about 10 minutes and then finish the rest off herself (so we'd get through a book a day).

[sittinginthesun]

Depends on the book. DS can read about 8-10 pages of a ruby level book outloud before he's had enough. He sometimes reads more in his head, but if it's a non fiction, he prefers to read it to me as he likes to chat about it.

This week he has a history book. It will probably take four nights reading, but he'll be an expert on the Tudors by the end!

[shoutymcshoutsmum]

Our school also recommends 20 minutes a day. Time works better for us, than a specific volume.

[sheridand]

We read a chapter a night, if the chapter is about 3-4 pages. Sometimes more, sometimes less. If it's a book he likes, we'll read more. Usually we read it together, I'll do a page, he'll do a page, then we'll talk about it. Saves it getting stale. He's only 6, I don't want to "kill" reading for him just yet, and some of them are really boring!

[Looksgoodingravy]

Ds is currently on White Band and tbh has recently wanted to read to himself, I've discussed that he still needs to read at least part of the book to me as we need to practise expression and talk about comprehension. If he reads out loud to me, depending on the story, we can read a few chapters a night but this is after him being in Kids Club etc, he's shattered some nights.

Just out of interest when did your dc start to read more to themselves and what was your dc teachers reaction. I've broached the subject to ds teacher and she seemed happy to let him read part of the book but that ultimately reading out loud to me was the whole point of reading at home.

I don't want to spoil his enjoyment though and would like to encourage him to read more to himself. He loves comics and car magazines and will sit and read quite happily.

[Looksgoodingravy]

*Practice

[Looksgoodingravy]

So since being on white band we can maybe read three books a week.

[tiredbutnotweary]

Well that's all very reassuring - thank you!

Periwinkle007 - the latest one is a Treetops Stage 10 more stories, pack b, and is 31 pages long.

DD can read quite quickly (unless dealing with a new word obviously) but I don't like to chivvy just to get the story read in a more reasonable, iykwim?

Thanks again everyone.

[pointythings]

Both my DDs would read these at a sitting, including reading most of them out loud to me and some in their heads. But as has been said above, not all children read at the same speed. Book devouring DCs have their disadvantages in terms of frequent library trips and groaning bookcases.

[Periwinkle007]

If she reads quite quickly (when interested - and that is the key part with half these books) then I would go with a rough time and see how she gets on. Some of the Treetops ones are pretty good, some are rubbish. The Allstars ones seem quite nice though. Does she get to choose (from a limited selection no doubt)?

[juniper9]

Looksgoodingravy practise was correct

[helpful]

[Periwinkle007]

if you do need to chivvy along a little just say something like 'oh I can't wait to see what happens next' or 'oh this looks exciting' and act like you are reading it in your head yourself - they then want to find out what happens.

[freetrait]

We did/do a mix of things- sometimes took 4 days or more (record was 2 weeks I think . I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Or...as others have said sometimes we shared reading the book, so he read some, I read some. They change their books twice a week so 4 days is ok really.

Actually I think I have been more inclined to share recently now he reads longer chapter books, (although still get a fair few white books, I think KS1 library is well stocked with these . DS often doesn't have the stamina (particularly during the week) to read it all himself. I quite like sharing books like this.

Just do what works for you. As long as she is reading enough then job done. DS tends to read the shorter books himself now, but longer ones are often shared..... unless it really grabs him and then he will just keep reading until finished, hooray!

[freetrait]

I think the guide line is 10 minutes to listen to, so I wouldn't do more than this unless you and she are very keen!

[Cat98]

Oh dear - ds is reading similar books at the moment and its taking us about a week! He reads a few pages a night. He's still not that keen on reading though. He'd never sit and read it to himself!
He still loves being read to.

[sheridand]

I wouldn't worry Cat, the response on Mumsnet is never indicative of the real state of reading in the classroom! In most Year 2 classes, the reading will range from White or ( rarely) above, down to Green. Children on Mumsnet are usually mini-genius! They read War and Peace by age 9. A week is about right, for most of the children on that level in the classes I know. At 6-7 years, most children far prefer being read to than otherwise. And it's still really valuable to do it.