Listening to dd read - even though she's ten and a level 5b?

[emkana]

is it really necessary? The teacher wants her to, but I find it quite alien, maybe because I'm german and in Germany this reading out loud thing isn't done to such an extent.

I didn't/don't do this with my DD 13/DS 9. But it's useful to ask them questions about what they've read to check comprehension. I found readind aloud really tedious as a child so was loath to inflict it on my DC, once they were reading fluently (whatever age that is)

I still listen to DD read occasionally, once a week orfortnight, and only for a page or so at most. Reading out loud is a different skill to reading in your head and it is an important skill. Good for any future speaking, etc. DD's school do place a level of importance on reading alpud or rather oration type skills and it is encouraged. In DD's school they have a class reader in juniors so they also read out loud at school a fair amount too.

It is worth doing but not every day.

don't bother with it myself once they are fairly fluent although it is useful for catching some bizarre pronunciations of uncommon words, but then again, so is listening to you read aloud to them, so I still read the bedtime stories (and love it!)

I get my DS (10) to read to my DD (7). I agree with Hula that reading aloud is a different skill to reading to yourself, and it's a shame not to develop it if you can.

I can't see it's necessary either by this age and when a child becomes fluent.

What's worse dc have come home today (also 10) and said they each have to read to me three times a week now. They are top readers and spellers. They also read confidently aloud. Dd in particular is mad about books and got through several over the holidays.

I can see this might be necessary if a child is still struggling but they're clearly not. I worry that too many formal rules and expectations regarding when, where and how often you must read will kill the enthusiasm stone dead and turn it into a chore.

Reading aloud is a skill worth working on. When reading in your head you read for meaning and plot, whereas when reading aloud you become more aware of the choice of words and the sentence structure.
I was a very good silent reader at school, but only learnt to read out loud when DS came along. I still read to him, and I find I get more out of a book by reading it aloud. I'll often read aloud to get him started on a good book, and then he gets interested and reads on alone.
As for getting him to read to me, I will ask him to read me an occasional chunk out of his school reading book, or if he is trying to extend bedtime, he can read me a few pages of our bedtime books.
He is very keen on car and football magazines, so I encourage him to read bits of it out while I am cooking.

It seems a very odd thing to ask such a competant reader to do. I would ask the teacher why, exactly, she wants your daughter to do this. If she enjoys reading, reading aloud will only slow her right down. (Finding it alien is really nothing to do with your being German.)

DS is 10 and Level 5 like OPs DD, but I still feel it is worthwhile.

For that matter I help with reading at school, and the teachers sends ALL the children along for reading with me, from the strugglers right up to the level 5s. One or two of the very good silent readers actually find it quite difficult hard to read aloud slowly and clearly; so they do need the practice for reading instructions, making presentations etc. in real life.
(However, the less advanced readers do get to read much more often with the volunteers, teachers and TAs)

It is different. Yes, it's slower, but then you read aloud for different reasons. I want my DC to be able to read with expression, to pace their delivery to suit their audience and the piece they are reading, to convey not only emotion but also atmosphere. I want them to be confident and fluent speakers, and I think reading aloud helps with that. Which is also why I get them to read to each other rather than me. It's not a reading practice chore, it's sharing a good story.

I agree that reading out loud is a different skill to reading silently and one that we should develop more. Children need to develop a huge range of reading skills and being able to read aloud fluently and with expression is one of them. It helps with presentation skills too.

I think that reading aloud and reciting poetry with meaning are two skills that are sadly very neglected these days.

Dd told me the other day that she loves me reading to her as it helps her imagine the characters more. We will often then have chats on how she sees the characters and what kind of accents they have etc. Makes the books more interesting.

I think it is really important. My DD can read well beyond her years, but because she has never been listened to at school, other than for tests, she has lost her enthusiasm for expression and making the story sound interesting. As far as I am concerned she read much better aloud when she was younger.

There has been no encouragement from school to read aloud so she has lost the natural flow, so yes I think it is important to continue to read aloud.

Yes it is necessary. You would be shocked/surprised about the number of "good" readers who can't read aloud. They get all the words right but there is no awareness of the beauty and music of the words, they may as well be reading a shopping list. You only learn to hear the patterns on the page when you speak aloud.

I have been a parent helper, and it is obvious if you listen to even good readers which ones regularly read to someone and who doesn't. Reading aloud fires different neurons in the brain and is an additional skill.
Also at least once a child was reading to me (a book I had already read) and we came across a totally obscure word; which resulted in us reaching for the dictionary. This can happen in good children's literature, even if you are well educated (which I consider myself to be).
Also in secondary school it is still common for children to "read around the class" on their set books. It is very helpful to have had continual practice in reading aloud in primary school.

If your dd is a level 5 B presumably she has got beyond the stage of needing help with basic pronunciation, but the other arguments are still important. Being good at reading aloud can be a great professional advantage, as well as a useful social skill (I am the storyteller for the whole extended family and it is valued as much as brother's piano playing skills).

I would turn it into a reciting exercise - getting her to read good poetry or read a play together- something where you teach dramatic skills. At 10, she might even appreciate Shakespeare.

Coming from abroad (Sweden), I have been interested to find how actively the British value vocal expression and good delivery: this is worth bearing in mind if your child is going to make her future in this country. Those drama lessons are not just a frilly pastime: they are believed to teach a skill that is vital to this society. Worth bearing in mind for us tongue-tied northeners.

Meh - I didn't read aloud at school past the age of about 6 (apart from the dreaded group slog through Shakespeare in class) and yet I did not find it a challenging skill to learn when I had DC (DH is better at it, but that's just because he has a good ear for accents).

I agree with all posters who emphasise that reading aloud is a different skill to reading silently, and one that it is very useful to develop.

I was very good and skilled at reading aloud as a child and I'm sure it stood me in good stead for work and presentation skills.

I do so vividly remember sitting in English Lit classes at secondary, listening to everyone take it in turns to read out Shakespeare. Some people made it sound exciting. Others made us all chew our arms off in frustrated boredom.

I'm glad I read this thread. It's made me realise that I should be getting DD1 (similar level) to read aloud more often. For the sake of her future classmates!

DD2 won't read out load to me hasn't done since y4. Now Y6
She reads far better out load than I do, I'm dyslexic and tend to paraphrase things, which drives her nuts.
(Actually really useful, because I never had a problem when school said put it in your own words, I had already . Comprehensions were a doodle too because in some strange way I must read and understand it correctly before reading out something similar but not exactly right)
Unfortunately seeing and not seeing words means I cannot spell
This also drives DD2 nuts.

It isn't just a skill to learn for when reading to your DC when you have them. Many jobs require people to be able to read from notes or speeches out loud, and to sound good doing it.

I'm going to show this thread to DD later, who is a free reader and is in year 6 now and looks horrified when I ask her to read to me.

Thanks