What do you do with younger siblings while you read with an older child?

[curlytoes]

I have 3 DCs aged 2,3 and 5. DC1 is in Reception Class. He is supposed to read at home 5 times a week. Initially DCs 2 and 3 seemed fascinated by this and sat listening to him read. Now they are fed up of it and use this time to mess around and annoy each other. I can't seem to find anything for them to do quietly on their own for a short while and it's driving me a bit loopy. Any ideas?

Don't annonunce that you're doing the reading, that's fatal!
Wait until others are engaged in something/ leave room/ watching tv and grab ds1 and discretely slip away. My ds used to sit on the kitchen bench and read whilst I chopped veg/washed up and the other 2 careered about as usual, remember they're used to reading in a noisy classroom.
Otherwise you're stuck with doing it when the others are in bed and that's too late really.
Is there a dp there in the morning? We often do it before school.

I try to do it while we are at the table between dinner and pudding, or in the car in the morning after Baby Goo dropped at nursery, or in bed as part of 'stories'. It is more successful in the mornings, but there is no way he reads 5 times a week :(

I think you're right about not announcing reading time, it does seem to induce crazy and irritating behaviour in the younger 2. DH works shifts and so sometimes reading is easy but perhaps on the other days I do need to be less precious about it. DC1 has recently gone up a reading level though and is struggling a bit hence I am trying to help him more. Maybe the sneaky approach would work.

i generally read when ds2 is in the bath ( only time after I come in from work), but on non-work days and weekends, I either sit at the breakfast bar so ds2 cant disturb us as easily or , more so now ( ds2 is 4 ) we have 'homework time' together and ds2 does colouring or dot to dots. This is mainly because I am managing to hear ds1 every night, but cant work out how I will hear both read when ds2 starts in sept, so thought id get a routine of sorts going.

It sounds like you're doing great missmapp.