How much do you read with your primary aged DC?

[confusedofengland]

Just wondering how much people read school books with their primary-aged DC? I have DS1 who is nearly 10 & in Year 5, who doesn't need us to read with him as he now reads anything & in his head. Then DS2 is in Year 3 & his teacher has said we need to hear him read 3 times a week. Ds3 is in Reception & his teacher recommends he reads every day.

I try to read with the smaller 2 most days, but some days I struggle to fit them both in, especially when we have swimming lessons or Beavers.

A friend of mine has been told that she must hear her DC read every day but says she can't because she works (both parents home from 5pm & DC is an only child).

Does everybody else manage to fit it in? If so, how?

This is currently on my FB feed a lot- I teach so I get of education stuff on my time line. It is by the book fair people so is skewed to that viewpoint, but still an interesting idea.

I ask the parents in my class to hear their child read 3 times per week, this is age 9-11. It is about the challenging vocabulary, responding to a range of punctuation and discussion of the finer points of inference or justification of an opinion about a character or idea at this age. These skills need someone to work with and are difficult to develop through reading to yourself.

The expectation at the primary school where I teach is that all children (from Foundation to Year 6) should read at least 5 times a week.

The youngest children and children who are finding reading tricky need to read with an adult.

Older, fluent readers might choose to read to themselves and are allowed to write in their reading records - but an adult has to sign to confirm that the child has read. Ideally, even these children should read with an adult a couple of times a week so that adults can help them to develop inference skills etc.

Early Years and KS1 I hear them read every day (only 1 DC left in this age bracket). After that they read daily to themselves and are also read to at bedtime. That’s ongoing and the eldest is Year 6.

DD is 8 and we read most nights at bedtime. She reads me a chapter then I read her a chapter as part of the bedtime routine. We don't do it on brownie night and it doesn't happen if she's got a friend over for a sleepover. But we manage a minimum of 5 times a week. The challenge for me is to remember to write it into her reading diary so she gets her sticker every week.

That's easy when you've only got one to read with, as I have. Listening to 3 is more of a challenge. Pick a time and make it part of your routine, kids soon get used to it and stop moaning as much.

At bedtime

With my two (7&9) I’ll get them each to read a page of our story (they’re close in reading levels - one free reader and the other not far behind).

Neither really come home with school books anymore so this is much easier!

I read to them and with them every single night. And beyond. And I made sure they saw me reading for pleasure too. It's do do vital in my opinion

I have 5 dc's in years 8, 6, 3, 1 and R. The dc in year 6 reads to himself mostly. Younger 2 bring books home for me to read to them, they haven't started reading by themselves yet. Youngest has writing practice as well. I do the younger 2 reading and youngest writing straight after school. Then year 3 child gets loads of homework and reading so he does that in the kitchen so I can help/listen while I'm making tea. Older 2 have homework and piano practice that they mostly do without help.

Sorry forgot to say we do this every school night and most weekends/school holidays. They all like reading/being read to for pleasure so we do a lot of that too.

I think I need to up my efforts, but I don't know when! DS2 has autism & takes a very long time to do anything & can't do lots of things on his own, so mornings are out & swimming lessons while the others are swimming won't work, he'd get too distracted.

They are all strong readers, although ds2 struggled at first & couldn't blend until Year 2. However he has just been formally assessed as having a reading age of 8.9 (actual age 7.7). The others' teachers both tell me they are top of the class. As a family, we all read in bed & sit around with books a lot. I volunteer at the local library. It is definitely not a case of not wanting to or not enjoying it, merely a logistical exercise.

They also have a bedtime story every night. Currently working our way through Narnia