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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

what is the benefit of reading 5 times a week with a good reader?

31 replies

feelathome · 25/09/2012 22:18

DD is in year 5. Not really read with her since year 1.
Had a new diary home with the instructions to read for 20 mins, five times a week.

I am struggling to find any benefit in this. She can choose anything she wants to read, no scheme etc.

She reads for hours a day on her own, and doesn't really want to read to us. We would prefer our quality time to be spent on more enjoyable activities.
However, if there is a real benefit, I will follow the instructions, but I am struggling to see what it is.
Yesterday she read 5 pages of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. We have to record the page numbers. She then read loads more pages to herself when she was in bed.
Does she have to re-read them with us, or can she just read from where she is? Will the school think she is missing out large chunks of the book?

There is a reward for children who read all term, so feel a bit blackmailed into this pointless activity.

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moonstorm · 25/09/2012 22:20

It's fun. Nice thing to do together? (I love reading together)

Original poster

feelathome · 25/09/2012 22:22

Not much fun really. I have no interest in Harry Potter or anything else she reads, and would much rather spend time chatting/playing games etc.

OP posts:

clemetteattlee · 25/09/2012 22:24

It encourages her speaking and listening skills, develops her spoken vocabulary and develops her ability to read with expression...

conorsrockers · 25/09/2012 22:25

Thats bonkers - I would double check what they mean, maybe they want you to read with them (just a few pages) to consolidate technique? The whole point of being a free reader is. just. that. Surely - FREE reading?!?!

Tiggles · 25/09/2012 22:25

I still get DS1 to read to me (Year 6) he is a good reader - reading age of 8 when he was 4, and consistently been 'ahead' since then. I find that when he is reading to me he will ask what words mean, which he doesn't when he reads for pleasure, it improves his pronunciation (as he learns lots of new words from reading them in books), improves his reading out loud skills - expression, character voices. He can't skip over words he doesn't know. I let him read a few pages to me and then he reads to himself.
Sometimes we discuss why an author has written in a particular way in a hope that it will improve his writing skills. e.g.How did the author describe the situation/person without breaking the flow of the story? What words did the author use instead of 'said' or whatever.

numptymark1 · 25/09/2012 22:26

I don't read with mine either but school is happy for them to read independently and then discuss what they have read

there is no benefit (IMO) of listening to a 10yo confident reader, reading out loud

conorsrockers · 25/09/2012 22:27

.... and I don't do that much with my YR 1 and 2, I also have a YR 5 and I can't remember the last time I heard him read, but he is an absolute bookworm!!

moonstorm · 25/09/2012 22:27

I agree with LittleMissGreen.

I was a really good reader, but I still needed someone to 'force' me not to be lazy when coming across new vocabulaty/ words etc.

purpleroses · 25/09/2012 22:28

Doesn't sound appropropriate for a solid reader in Y5. My DD is Y5 and I started ignoreing the school reading diary by about Y2 or 3 I think, and they didn't seem to care.

She still loves reading and reads avidly at times (ocassionally aloud to me), then sometimes goes a week or two between books reading nothing. Seems healthy to me.

Certainly you don't need to re-read stuff if she's reading on her own - just write down the page she got up to.

mumnosGOLDisbest · 25/09/2012 22:29

Could you share a newspaper or teen/young girls magazine? I have a similar prob with DS yr3. He likes to read alone but will happily read articles to me or stories to his little sisters - good practice speaking aloud, intonation, pronunciation etc

Original poster

feelathome · 25/09/2012 22:29

hhhmmmm, I suppose I see the point now, but 5 times a week, 20 mins each time, seems excessive, on top of other homework and things she had to do. Perhaps I'll try 2 or 3 times a week.
I don't want to put her off reading, though, and I think this may well do that.

OP posts:

HeathRobinson · 25/09/2012 22:30

Agree with LittleMissGreen.

I listened to mine read every week night until they left primary. It helps a lot with understanding, meeting new vocab etc.

moonstorm · 25/09/2012 22:31

It does seem a lot. I would just keep a regular reading session going, not neecessarily so strict.

Original poster

feelathome · 25/09/2012 22:35

good idea, GOLD, perhaps I could get her to read to her younger brother, I think they will both love that.
Won't improve her vocab, but will help with reading out loud skills.

OP posts:

mumnosGOLDisbest · 25/09/2012 23:08

Ooh i like GOLD i normally get mum and i'm not old enough for grown up children yet :)

Beanbagz · 26/09/2012 10:17

It will help her speaking/performance/expression skills. Also it give you a chance to check that she's not just skipping the hard words and to make sure that she actually understands what she's reading.

I still listen to my Y6 DD and i asked my Y3 DS to read aloud to us in the car the other day as he needs to work on his 'big voice'.

FWIT sometimes DH and i also read aloud in the car on long journeys. Audio books can be very expensive!

Beanbagz · 26/09/2012 10:18

< should point out that we read aloud when the kids are in the car! >

wordfactory · 26/09/2012 10:23

Reading aloud is a great thing to do.

You can check she fully comprehends all the words, their meanings, their nuances. You can discuss the contexts, the themes, the choice of words.

ByTheWay1 · 26/09/2012 10:26

I'm a parent helper - currently helping in Y6 - listening to reading... and you can tell the kids that read aloud at home still - it is an absolute pleasure to listen to them read their book, drawing you into the story using tone , volume and characterisation in their voice to make you feel a part of their book.

Those who..do..not..read..aloud...at..home..tend...to..be..a...bit...monotonous.... they can read, some of them some very complex vocabulary... but it is not the same...

wavesandsmiles · 26/09/2012 10:32

Hi, DS is a v confident reader, Y4, and has started bringing home "real books" now. He just got Peter Pan and is loving it. He likes to read alone, but as a compromise, he will read the odd chapter or passage aloud. After each chapter he gives me a summary of what has happened, what was exciting etc. The reading aloud is certainly helping with tone, pauses, etc. He is quite shy and this really helps him. We discuss how we can make the story exciting to listen to by changing pitch, varying pace etc. And then, I'll read a passage to him using those strategies, so he gets more of an idea. But he would be VERY frustrated if he had to read the whole thing aloud. I think variety is the key really.

redskyatnight · 26/09/2012 11:28

I'd double check what is required? DS's school also ask for a similar level of reading, but they suggest for fluent readers they only read to an adult once a week.

Apart from anything else, reading aloud for 20 minutes is very hard work!

choccyp1g · 26/09/2012 11:31

You help them with pronunciation of words they have not met before (especially names and places); you help them with reading aloud skills, (understanding the intonation of punctuation and sub-clauses).

You make sure they understand the story and don't just skim over bits they don't undertand or can't read.

You make them guess whta might happen next no don't do that it spoils the fun of the story.

Now I'll read the OP and discover I am talking cr*p.

mistlethrush · 26/09/2012 11:33

I think 20 mins is rather long, but I can see the benefit of doing reading out loud when they are confident. Having said that, it does sound rather a long time to take to read 5 pages of a HP book.

DS is only Yr3 but was reading yesterday with wonderful expression - it was an easier book so he found it much easier to do than some of the others that he's been reading.

He's reading an Artemis Foul book at the moment which is really quite difficult for him - not only are there lots of made-up words and names, there are also some quite complicated ones and its good to hear him (and help him) get it sorted out and work out what it means before going on.

Elibean · 26/09/2012 11:35

I also agree with Miss Green. dd1 is in Y4, a fluent reader for a long time now, but lazy when it comes to new vocab - she can pronounce (ie read, phonically) any word she comes across, but I check every now and then 'do you know what it means?' and quite often, if its a stretching book, she doesn't. And enjoys finding out, but wouldn't if I hadn't read with her.

But we read for 10 mins every night - and occasionally I let her read to herself, and have a night off from reading aloud. They are also encouraged to occasionally have a break from their reading books and read aloud from, say, the newspapers - dd read an entire article from 'Style' magazine to dh last weekend, to his utter bafflement

choccyp1g · 26/09/2012 11:40

Having read the thread, I stand by my first post. What I used to do with DS at this stage was to let him read alone, but every few days to tell me the story so far and read me a few pages out loud. Nowadays, he voluntarily read me out bits from the sports pages or comics.

I still read to him once in a while, especially to get him started on a new book, otherwise he could read an entire book mispronouncing Penelope or Cholmondley (sp) in his head. I wonder how many of the "reading Harry Potter on their own" children actually know how Hermione is pronounced?

Reading aloud is a skill in itself, which I didn't learn until Ds was born.

In Y7 they "read around the class", and he claims to be the second best at reading aloud, (modest!) so my method seems to have worked.

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