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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Why does DD have a hard time reading aloud when she's so fluent?

34 replies

AwkwardMary · 28/03/2012 21:55

DD is 7...she is in year three (new to this school since Sept) and has been reading since she was just turned 5...she got much more fluent this year and when she arrived at this new school, her teacher told me she ought to have been on free reading for a while but she had been on a scheme.

ANyway...the teacher allowed her to choose her own books and she eats them up...loves reading...she's not especially advanced or anything...likes Roald Dahl and Tracy Beaker etc. Her spelling is very good and is about the same as that of a ten year old according to her teacher...so WHY does she hate reading aloud to me or to her teacher?

She drones quietly...on purpose...so that we'll let her stop. I know she is reading the books that she has....she lies there for a long time in the evening and begs to be allowed to finish a chapter before bed...she wil discuss books to a point but doesn't like it if I try to encourage her.

Is she having some difficulty with reading aloud? Is there some kind of disability related to this? Her spelling is very good and her writing is neat...she draws very well and her maths though not great is improving all the time....I had her eyes tested and they are fine...I told her tonight that she MUST read aloud to me...her teacher sad that it will help her confidence...

she complained that it "makes me go too slow when I read out loud." and got very angry when I tried to make her...how do we know if she is understanding all she reads if she won't share??? When I ask her questions about her books and the stories she will only roll her eyes at me. What to do?

OP posts:

toddlerama · 28/03/2012 22:01

She's telling you why - it slows her down and hampers her enjoyment. I wouldn't worry about a disability or inability to do it, she just wants to get on with the story.y nephew is the same. He's read fluently and freely from 3.5 but huge amounts of eye rolling and refusal to read aloud. I think it can also stem from not wanting to "perform" at something they know people will ask them to "prove".

Original poster

AwkwardMary · 28/03/2012 22:05

She does hate performing tbh...it IS annoying though. IN her last school they had her narrate the Nativity and she did the whole thing with no paper...she'd learned around an A4 sheet of lines at age 6. She did it because she had to...I just worry because she's backward in coming forwards and the teacher wants her to speak out more...learn to share a bit!

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betterwhenthesunshines · 28/03/2012 22:50

Or she's reading enough of the story to herself to understand and enjoy it but skimming over any tricky bits? And this gets exposed when she reads aloud.

My son was a bit like this (at 10 he still reads faster than me, and I'm a book a day person on holiday). We got round it by lying together and me reading the same page as him, but both in our head. That way I could keep up with the story, check it was suitable (!) check he knew any complex vocab, talk to him about plot etc Generally just be involved without slowing him down. But occasionally (once a week) I did insist on reading a bit out loud to him to help expression etc and prove it wasn't a race!

Original poster

AwkwardMary · 28/03/2012 23:06

Ah good tip better! Thank you! I will lie next to her tomorrow...is he doing ok with comprehension? I can't bloody well tell how dd is doing!

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danceswithyarn · 28/03/2012 23:15

I loathed reading aloud at that age. Understanding just fine thanks, and only problem I can recall was my pronunciation (in my head) of the name Alicia in one of the Enid Blyton series (Alice-a rather than Aleesha or A-lic-i-a)

Class readers were realms of pain. Usually was in trouble for not staying on the same page as the rest of the class but couldn't bear reading along with x stumbling over easy words and losing the story!

How often do you read aloud for pleasure? Keep it for her "work" rather than "fun" books.

Original poster

AwkwardMary · 28/03/2012 23:21

I didnt read to her for ages tbh as she wasn't keen...but have begun to dip in and out of various books and she is enjoying it....she listens but often rejects the books and says "Not that interesting...let's choose another next time" so we don't continue with the book...the other nigth I read Miss Pepperpot, and tonight it was What Katy Did...which she liked but is probably too much for her due to the Americanisms and the old fashioned language.

I don't know what to do...she brought a new book home tonight and has finished it...in one evening. It's not a big book at all....but has she really finished it? How on earth to check when she won't discuss?

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maybeyoushoulddrive · 28/03/2012 23:27

I'm watching this with interest - you could be describing my dd! I think with dd(8) it is the fact that reading out loud slows the story down too much and she just wants to get her teeth into it. She seems to manage reading comprehensions at school OK.

Really like the idea of reading side by side better!

Original poster

AwkwardMary · 28/03/2012 23:29

maybe nice to know I'm not alone! Is your DD self contained generally? Or outgoing?

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maybeyoushoulddrive · 28/03/2012 23:35

Quite self contained I'd say, very worried about getting things wrong or being in trouble. She is very imaginative, no interest in computers , reading and playing with Sylvanians etc are all to her. She seems to have a nice group of friends, and when I eavesdrop overhear them playing she is bossy the one with the ideas, so quietly confident I guess. What about your dd?

Original poster

AwkwardMary · 29/03/2012 00:18

She is very into art and computers...a bit of a mix really. She's very quiet...prefers to be with one friend rather than in a group and like your DD is afraid of getting things wrong or standing out in any way...apart from her clothing that is! She goes out of her way to stand out in her clothing choices!

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CherryCheesecake · 29/03/2012 00:26

I still hate doing this! Im 20.

I got a D in my english language gcse because i refused to do it cos i knew that if i read aloud the attention of everyone in the room would be on me and i would start stuttering and trip on simple words. I think because im so anxious i tend to read ahead of my self and skip words out.

I also really love reading! I think its just being self conscious and maybe work on her confidence. I have no idea how you could do that though.

Hth

Original poster

AwkwardMary · 29/03/2012 00:28

Yes Cherry I have booked her into a couple of clubs...one after school one and a sewing club as she loves serwing...I think it will come. DH was cripplingly shy as a kid apparently...you'd never know that now mind you.

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3duracellbunnies · 29/03/2012 07:13

Does she have any younger siblings/cousins/ friends, dd1 always reads better with more expression when reading to ds (2.5 years). It's great as it is a win win situation, she gains in confidence, he often requests her to read and I can load the dishwasher it doesn't help with the vocab - although some words are more complicated, and I still listen to her read to me. Most parents of toddlers would probably be happy to help you out!!

Or if she has the same problem in school ask there if she might have a little time a week as 'reading monitor' for nursery/reception. At our school the older children can sometimes go and read to one or two younger children (the LO choose the book - not sure she will get to read Tracy Beaker!!), they all seem to enjoy it and it makes the LO feell special too.

exoticfruits · 29/03/2012 07:23

I expect she hates it.

I would imagine that she reads like me-very fast-never sees the words and it is like being at the cinema. Reading aloud is completely different.

It is a skill she will get in time. I read aloud to whole classes of DCs and love it-I didn't when 7trs old.

jubilee10 · 29/03/2012 07:54

the teacher told me she ought to have been on free reading for a while but she had been on a scheme

You will read all the time parents saying that the books their children are reading in school are too easy for them and asking if they should tell the teacher to move them up a level or five! Reading easier books builds up confidence. Easy doesn't have to mean boring. The books my ds reads in school are too easy for him to read so we perform them, we use different voices, we read with expression and we enjoy.

And then he reads his own books. I wonder if she was on a scheme for a reason.

queenrollo · 29/03/2012 07:54

I read aloud to DS, and I trip over words all the time when I do it - and frequently get the metering of a sentence wrong because my brain has to adopt a different pace. Reading out loud and reading to yourself are not the same thing. I devour books, and read at a pretty fast pace but readng out loud does slow you down. I also really immerse myself in a book when I'm reading it, so reading aloud to DS is ok as it's stuff he wants to hear but I would find it very hard and extremely irritating to be asked to read aloud a story which I was enjoying as solitary escapism.

I was an early fluent reader, and because of this I was often asked to read aloud in class and every year I was the narrator for the nativity. I hated it....I was shy and was crippled with anxiety at all the attention being on me.

I do however think it's important that you encourage her gently to read out loud. We Home Ed and DS(6) has just last weekend given away the fact he can read quite well, he read out a story on the BBC news website that interested him - but generally if we ask him to read out loud you'd think we were asking him to clean sewers out I've switched to finding small but challenging things for him to read aloud, and this works much better.

mummytime · 29/03/2012 08:02

There is research that shows reading aloud fires different neural pathways to reading silently. So it is an extra skill, which she will need to practise.

Things I have done is encourage my kids to act out when reading something they are familiar with. For me to read a passage aloud and then get them to read the same passage, and really work on the expression. And best of all is just lots of practice, younger siblings can be a good people to read to, but the cat or a favourite Teddy work quite well too.

Ismeyes · 29/03/2012 08:21

You are also describing my DD, who reads fluently and with understanding to herself, but clams up and stutters at reading aloud. I suspect she reads like me - the description of it being like the cinema and just seeing the story really resonates with me. I also know its confidence rather than ability because she will read aloud when just with me, using different voices etc but won't at school.

Original poster

AwkwardMary · 29/03/2012 08:55

She won't even read to her sister...bunnies I tred that and mummytime she wuld neve act smething out...not if it was school related...she does things like that for fun of course but she'd never do it for me re. her books.

Mummytime I wonder what else those neural pathways deal with..

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mummytime · 29/03/2012 11:29

Reading aloud is a useful skill. Speaking in public is pretty crucial.

One thing I did with my dyslexic son is: I would read a paragraph, then I would retread a short section, then he would read it, then we would repeat this until he'd read the whole section, then he would retread it to me. Another thing he has done is read to me something that he knows very well. Finally if they read like robots I have shown them how they are reading, and then we've worked together on expression, and reading it in all sorts of funny ways.
But first you have to make sure that reading to you is in a safe place, where no one is laughed at (except Mummy).

Tgger · 29/03/2012 11:35

Interesting thread. I'm encouraging DS (5) to slow down when he reads aloud at the moment. I'm guessing he's trying to read aloud at the same speed he reads in his head which makes for rather a garbled reading! He is so eager to find out what happens in the story as well that he rushes through it. I slow him down by asking questions, or making annoying Mummy comments- although sometimes I empathise and let him rush ahead... ho hum.... guess like all things a balancing act re not wanting to stop their enjoyment and being able to read aloud well which is a useful skill.

Original poster

AwkwardMary · 29/03/2012 12:05

I have tried all that mummytime but she's very stubborn and gets very angry when pushed...I have tried a reward system...I have tried doing it in funny voices...singing it...I have left it alone and not bothered her...but I NEED to be able to share reading with her in order to help her understand what she is reading...shes 7...she can't possibly grasp it all so fast...

she read her whole book in one evening last night and has now returned it to school...I wont be able to check her homework on it...she has tasks to complete on all reading books...things like "THink of 6 questions to ask about the book" or "Imagine you are a character from your book and write a diary entry"

I don't know the bleddy story so can't help her!

OP posts:

learnandsay · 29/03/2012 14:55

If the books had been returned to the school you could substitute another story in place of the missing book and add a note on the homework explaining what you've done.

Original poster

AwkwardMary · 29/03/2012 15:40

Well I think I will let her do the work....she will bring a new book home tonight and I will have the WHOLE Easter hols to read with her...I will hide it tonight so she can't read it in one gulp.

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HangingGarden · 29/03/2012 15:52

Have you tried to get her to read poems aloud? Or you reading aloud to her as well, maybe using 'posh' or accented voices?
My DD was never a fan of reading aloud when she wanted to know what happened next in a story - bit like me with a book, but it was poems like 'The Ning Nang Nong', or 'Faster than fairies, faster than witches...' which made reading aloud much more fun.
We also had a series of books from the library which were in rhyme about a lad called, I think, Stanley Bagshaw, who lived 'up North, where its boring and slow' which we'd read in our best attempts at the accent! All good fun.

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