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Original poster

How often does your dd/ds read or you read to them???

25 replies

cleaninglady · 15/10/2007 13:00

I have dd just turned 6 who is a really good reader and went through the whole range of books in reception to be a "free reader" at the end of that year.
She is now in Year one and im having loads of trouble trying to encourage her to read even 2/3 times per week! I think because she has the grasp of it that its not a "challenge" any more and therefore she thinks she is done!
Does anyone have any ideas or any opinions on how often she should read to me per week?? TIA

OP posts:

nimnom · 15/10/2007 13:29

My ds1 has just gone into year one (he was 5 in July) and he is still fairly enthusiastic, so reads to me every weeknight and maybe once over the weekend. However, if he does not want to read i don't push it too much because I don't want to put him off.
Have you thought about going to the library and letting your dd choose her own books to read - then you could alternate between those and the school ones.
Also, try asking the teacher for any tips they might have (not always easy - fortunately we have very good, approachable teacher)

EllHell · 15/10/2007 13:42

dd1 is 7 and reads anything she can get her hands on. She has been reading to herself (rather than aloud to me) since about the beginning of this year. We started with those hideous Rainbow Fairy books. I loathe them. They are really badly written and boring and repetitive... but the repetition is what makes them easy to read for kids when they first start reading independently and dd1 read about 20 of them (not kidding!) before realising how tedious they are and moving onto other things. She now reads for a good hour and half a day. Throughout Year 2 she also read her school books to me, but now in Year 3 she doesn't really read aloud to me at all any more. Sometimes I get her to read a bit of the books she brings home from school. We do it as a game... e.g. inventing different voices for the different characters (dd2, who's 5, does that now too ... we have different voices for Biff, Chip and Kipper!), pretending she's a radio announcer reading the news, that kind of thing). This makes the school books (which even her teachers agree are not challenging for her at all) into something different from the books she reads for fun. I also encourage her to write book reviews of the school books she reads to give her an added challenge. I think the key thing is to make reading fun for your dd. If she hates reading the school books she's bringing home and is a good reader anyway, then let her read something that she actually likes....

themildmanneredaxemurderer · 15/10/2007 13:44

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Marina · 15/10/2007 13:48

Definitely agree with the others - find her stuff she really likes and let her read that instead. Ideally, the school should be aware of her swift acquisition of reading skills, and be offering her chapter books from the school library of reading books.
And, if hideous comics etc are what she wants to read at home, then let her (on top of EllBell's great suggestions). Ds galloped through reading too and for a time had an obsession with the Beano. But he was reading for pleasure every day so we feigned huge interest in Dennis the Menace etc

Hulababy · 15/10/2007 13:49

DD is 5, and in Y1. She reads to me every day - school book or one of her own books. Either me or DH will read to DD once a day, normally at bedtime, too.

Sound slike your DD needs some more exciting books - to learn that reading can simply just be for fun, not just as a challenge/learning activity.

What books do you have for her?

DD is currently enjoying some of the Blue Banana books. Just finished one called "Cake test" which she really enjoyed.

Marina · 15/10/2007 13:49

Forgot to say that we stuck with daily reading because we were lucky and ds never dug his toes in.
Even now (Yr4) he still reads aloud nightly and we read to him too. We are major-league bookworms in our family though

Marina · 15/10/2007 13:50

Oh, and if she has any perennial favourite picture books from younger days, ask her to read them to you for a change
Ds loved revisiting Shirley Hughes, Judith Kerr etc and reading them aloud

popsycal · 15/10/2007 13:53

ds1 was 5 in August - so in Year 1 too. He reads all of the time: his reading books, subtitles on tv , his own books.

Sounds like your dd needs something more challenging to renew her interest.

Have you heard of the 'sprinters' series? SHort chapter books.
Search on the bok people...they have a set for a good price

Original poster

cleaninglady · 15/10/2007 14:00

wow thanks ladies for the prompt and excellent replies!! I think i need to let her choose some books herself rather than school ones - we were reading the Magic Faraway Tree stories to her which she really enjoyed so maybe I will set her free in Borders and choose something herself!

I might try every other night for the moment so as not to put to much pressure on as she has done so well up to now i dont want to ruin it ! Do you think its important that I sit with her or should I let her go off and read alone if she will do that?

EllHell - we have those Rainbow Fairy Ones as well

OP posts:

Hulababy · 15/10/2007 14:02

I'd say a bit of both. Try and encourage her to read a little bit to you - being able to read out alone and share a book can be nice, and can make for good chatting afterwards. But also reading on her own is a nice thing for her to do to. DD really got into reading alone on holiday, as she saw everyone else sat round the pool reading. She got a lot out of realising that reading was just for fun too that fortnight.

EllHell · 15/10/2007 14:05

Am going to look out the Sprinters books for dd2, popsycal. DD2 also likes the bananas series and we are currently reading something that looks as if it might have been produced by the same publisher, Sherlock Hound.

With dd1 what really got her excited was taking her to the library and letting her choose what she wanted to read. Slightly less puke-inducing than the Rainbow Fairies, but still quite unchallenging for a 6-y-o are things like the My Secret Unicorn series, the Pony Mad Princess series, Tiara Club, Magic Kitten, Little Animal Ark (moving on to the slightly older Animal Ark series - there are about 9 zillion of these too) and so on. None of these is 'great literature' but it doesn't matter if your dd is reading something she enjoys. Today Rainbow Fairies... tomorrow A Midsummer Night's Dream!

LadyMuck · 15/10/2007 14:13

One of the things to watch out for if they are reading by themselves is whether they are pronouncing new vocabulary correctly - if they are reading with comprehension it can later on be very difficult to undo early mistakes in pronounciation.

popsycal · 15/10/2007 14:20

ladymuck is right - and my DH is a prime example. He read lots of sci fi/fantasy fiction (pixie books, I call them). All his life, until a few years ago, he thought the word 'eunuch' said 'ernsh' and that a 'yoo-nick' was a totally different being ....

EllHell · 15/10/2007 14:22

LOL popsycal. I can still remember realising with at the age of about 10 that 'chaos' (pron. 'choss') was actually 'kay-oss'. Had been 'silently' reading it that way for years!

TellusMater · 15/10/2007 14:22

DS doesn't like reading to me. I read to him every day, and he reads to himself every day. He reads to me (or DH) a couple of times a week. He is also 6.

mankyscotslass · 15/10/2007 19:39

Ds is in Y1. He reads his reading book to me twice a week, and I read his bedtime story to him. We sometimes take turns with the pages depending on what sort of book he has asked me to read...last night it was an Eye Wonder book on volcanoes . He free reads mostly, but I try to get hold of his current book every day and get him to read the next page out for me too, just so I can keep track of how he is doing. TBH, I think he is going to be a bookworm like me!

mankyscotslass · 15/10/2007 19:40

I read his bedtime story to him each night

SSSandy2 · 15/10/2007 19:42

I don't know what she "should" do. My dd (year 2) reads to me every night and then I read to her.

On weekends, she climbs into bed and reads to me in the mornings (not that keen myself but I try not to show it!). So every day at least once definitely.

However, if she doesn't WANT to, it's tricky. Mine is always happy to read to me or to herself.

Do you think the books she is reading are too easy?

Judy1234 · 15/10/2007 19:53

The best bit about reading bed time stories to children in bed is their soft squishy warm bodies cuddled up against you, worth persisting with that even if you're sick to death of the story concerned.

LadyOfTheFlowers · 15/10/2007 19:56

I read to Ds1 who is 2 every day. He usuallybrings me the books! It is part of our day. I do not read to him before bed though as he seems to get over excited and asks for more and more books (He loves books!)
Ds2 (1) usually joins us and thoroughly enjoys it when he does.

LIZS · 15/10/2007 20:02

dd (6) happily reads most days out loud and to herself in bed and at other times. ds (9) reads to himself in bed and Harry Potter to dh about 3-4 times a week and/or the odd school library book.

Carbonel · 15/10/2007 20:46

My dd really took off reading on her own when she started reading in bed after 'lights out' - i.e. putting her light back on and reading in 'secret'.

We knew all about it and put her to bed 30 mins earlier but she thought she was being 'grown up'.

I have always bought her loads of books so as well as the school book she has sets from the book people - the Eye wonder series is excellent - and lots of others - dh has even bought her 'Biggles' not that she has read it yet but he is waiting patienetly

swedishmum · 15/10/2007 21:45

My ds is 10 and dyslexic - but not a bad reader. He reads every morning before school after I've done the bus run for his older sisters. We both enjoy it - we choose a variety of books but nothing too long as it's only morning reading. We lookat all sorts - mainly fiction but also graphic novels, poetry and autobiography. We're sharing the reading - this week we're doing Michael Morpurgo Alone on the Wide Wide Sea. His teacher commented on how his reading is improving.

SSSandy2 · 16/10/2007 09:52

c-lady, you don't think she could have developped a problem with eyesight at all?

Original poster

cleaninglady · 16/10/2007 15:39

SSSandy2 - we did get her eyes checked a few weeks ago as this thought did cross my mind so great minds think alike I had a chat with her teacher last night and she recommended every other night and to check her pronuniciation of new words like someone further down the thread suggested !! anyway we have a target of a chapter a night if possible and she is allowed to choose her own chapter books so its her choice and maybe more interesting for her? thanks for all the advice/replies though - mumsnet fab as usual !!

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