At what age were your children when you stopped reading them a bedtime story?

[marykat2004]

I am just curious what others do or have done. Once children can read to themselves, do you stop reading to them? I don't remember my mum reading to me ever really, but she had 2 younger children and those were different times. I still read to DD, age 7, even though she also reads to herself.

we dont really read to dd (8 next month) any more as she reads before bed by herself. DS is 5 and we still read to him

mine are 9 and 6 and I still read to them at bedtime. They're both fluent readers but none of us want to stop the bedtime reading. 9yo recently started coming in to hear ds2's stories too - books he'd think were too babyish to choose for himself but he likes hearing them. I read a mixture of picture books and short chapter books to ds2. DS1 & I have just finished HP books and now onto Percy Jackson with War Horse lined up next.

mine are 7.5 and 5.5, dd1 reads to herself before bed and dd2 now reads to me (have just stoped reading to her).

Mine are 7 and 10 - I read to them together at bedtime most days. A chapter from his choice and a chapter from hers.
I cant really imagine not reading to them as its something we all enjoy - perhaps when they leave home :o

If and when ds does moan I dont read to him that day. We dont watch tv more than a few times a week so listening to stories is part of our family time iyswim.

I think many families stop reading to their kids when they can read but I really love reading aloud and they love listening so we have continued. By reading aloud to children you can enable them to listen to a story that perhaps is beyond their reading level. Plus you can share the story and discuss what might happen next etc

We still read to ours, though to be fair they are 7.10, 6, and 2 and all share a room at the mo.

We've always read Pratchett, HP, or Percy Jackson to them rather than kids books. Mainly so we can enjoy them too!

My old flatmate's mum is an English professor and she still sometimes does family bedtime stories when they are all home - last Christmas they worked through Vanity Fair - his sister is 22 and he is 24 .

My parents stopped when I was about 9 or 10 I think, but bedtime stories were really a joint thing with my sister and me in the "big bed" and then my dad in between us. It didn't work once she got into secondary school, and I lost interest when it was just me and used to read to myself.

About 10.

DS2 is 8 and unless he has stayed up late to watch something on TV I will read to him.

I still read to DS who is nearly 8 and DD who is 6.

Hmm, about 4 I think- as soon as DS learned to read he wanted to do it all by himself.

DD is 2.9 and I'm enjoying reading to her every night (and throughout the day as well, many times )- but she's already taking books out of my hands and tries to read by herself, so I'm not sure for long she'll let me. It's a very special time, isn't it.

for how much longer she'll let me, that is

I think it is sad that such young children don't want to be read to. My dd is 6 and still loves me to read to her even though she is a very capable reader- she likes the excuse to snuggle up and she can access stories that are above her own reading ability. I can't imagine stopping reading to her any time in the near future (at least I hope not!).

My 10 year old DD sometimes gets me, but more often DH to read to her, nut purely to get some parent time.
DD1 is dyslexic and she'd get her dad to read bits of HP or twilight to her in Y7, then she reread twilight and ran the library raged ordering discs of all the HPs.

I read to my 3 and 7 year olds. I will do it as long as they want it. 7 yo reads for an hour or so to himself afterwards too, so gets most of the story himself. He like being read to as comfort - it relaxes him.

Round abouat the age of 7 1/2 then they read themselves.

Still do now they are 12 and 15 although the subject matter has changed somewhat

Mine are 7 and 5 and reading by themselves. But they get plenty of other snuggles.

Hi everyone, I am beginning my reading and research for my dissertation. I would like to know your opinions on the importance of reading to children and also listening to children read?

As I said on one of your other (multiple) threads, Elscott, you need to focus your questioning. The question you have asked only really invites the answer "I think it's very important" or "I don't think it's important", and as we have all been taught the former by schools and child rearing literature, chances are we will feel we ought to answer the former. So we will- and you will have at most a paragraph in your dissertation. Think about what kind of aspect you want to investigate: what we read, how we read, how long we read, the connection between what/how we read to our children and what they read or how we listen to them reading etc etc.

My two boys are almost 10, and 7. They both still love stories even though they read lots of books to themselves. My 7 year old got the Rudyard Kipling animal stories for Christmas and he loves having those read to him but usually it's Harry Potter or David Walliams or anything really. My oldest said he wanted to read to himself instead tonight and I sat with him for a bit but then he asked me to take over, just when I was wondering if it was the end of a chapter, if you excuse the pun! :-)

I read to my 8yo every night and my 10yo sometimes. Not my 12yo though.

Oh bother zombie thread