6 yr old and bedtime story

[peppajay]

My daughter is 6 and in year 2 and either me or my hubby still read her a bedtime story. She isnt the best reader and doesnt enjoy doing anything on her own she relishes adult interaction, but none of her classmates are read to anymore. There is a few in her class who have TV's in their room so they go to bed and watch tv and the others read to themselves in bed for half hour or so but my DD would be distraught if we left her to read: 1) she isnt the best reader and would need so much help and 2) would hate us not being involved.

When we do read to her she still likes what I call picture books like 'A squash and a squeeze' or the blue kangaroo books whereas a lot of her friends are reading Enid Blyton or Horrid Henry.

So am I babying her too much and spending too much time with her or at 6 she she be expected to read to herself. She is in yr 2 but August born so very young.

Thanks x

How sad that no one reads to her friends at bedtime ! I still read to my nearly 10 year old he then reads for 20 mins or so by himself

We still read to ds (6) he likes boring reference books mainly but also likes gruffallo, squash and a squeeze etc too

We always read to our DD, she is 5 3/4 and insists on it. We normally read books she can't manage herself to widen her vocabulary and get her to concentrate on a more complex storyline. When she learned to read she was actually afraid we would then stop reading to her.

After this and a couple of lullabies (oh yes, she would be devestated if we would stop them) she then can read to herself for another couple of minutes until it is 8pm or 8.15pm on weekends.

TV before bedtime is not good for a good night sleep, neither for adults nor children. DD won't have one until she is at least 10 or so subject to her general behaviour.

My ds is almost 7 and I still read to him every night, we sometimes read chapter books, like Roald Dahl, reading a page each, but he still really enjoys the picture books - especially dr seuss.

I often read to both of my children at the same time, dd is 3, and they both enjoy hearing similar books, I think as some other posters have said its more about enjoying the time than improving their reading.

I used to work in a library, and a common misconception is that the picture books are for very young children - they are actually designed to be shared, so are for a wider age range iyswim!

My DS2 was 6 in December. He is doing ok at reading....but we'll find out more at parents' evening tonight! We read to him most nights...but I will get him to read his reading books (Biff Chip / picture books mainly eg Elmer on Stilts) to me sometimes. He is starting to read himself, but usually this happens after we have read the story. Or I will read one page and he reads the next.

He chose a Tin Tin book the other day, loves Curious George, Octonauts etc...

DS1 who is 8 is a very confident reader...occasionally I ask him to read, but he is a bit of a bookworm and just gets on with it. I notice that he does skip words, and also mispronounces the odd word, so definitely worth reading with him too. Wish I had more time...

And another vote against the TV in the bedroom. It won't happen chez moi!

Mine aren't that old yet but I intend to carry on reading to them at bedtime until they are big enough to kick me out!!! I remember having a bedtime story until I was 11 or 12 at least. I was a total bookworm anyway and got through 4-5 books a week from the library as well. I think it gives you an opportunity to tackle books they might not necessarily do so by themselves- something a bit harder, it's an opportunity to discuss books and its also just nice together time :-)
I roll my eyes in despair at the number of very small children that have a TV in their room. It's not wonder so many children have problems going to sleep- TV is stimulating not relaxing. Mine won't be having a TV in their room for a looooong time!

We are reading " Peter Pan" ( not abridged) at the moment atDS1's insistence. I think the language is quite hard going and he's only 5 but every time I suggest leaving it until he is a bit older he gets cross. He seems to understand what's going on though.

And definitely no tv in their rooms. Dc mentioned having an x box and sky landers in his room like his friends Tom, dick and Harry.

I retorted 'absolutely not. Over my dead body are you having a tv and x box in your room until your at least 33!"

He replied," but can I have them when I'm 33 then?"

Bless him

I still occasionally read to DD2 (10 and a good reader) and was reading to her every night atage 6. My DD (13) will sometimes casually slide into bed to listen as well but don't tell her mates that!!

Definitely still read to her. We read to our children, and the eldest is 9.5! He loves that time with us.

And if she is a struggling reader, reading her books beyond what she can read is improving her vocabulary and imagination - if you made her read books on "her level" she wouldn't be exposing herself to more sophisticated plots, great language etc.

And to take heart, my DD last year was Yr 2 and reading similar level books - partly because she wanted to finish them in one sitting, didn't like to leave them mid way.

She was given a beautiful, big Usborne Book of short stories (for girls, I think). The combination of the beautiful illustrations and the short stories suddenly gave her the confidence to tackle "big" books with chapters etc. She could finish a story (thus not leaving the plot half way), but made her realise she could read bigger books. Since then her reading has accelerated and she's now reading Michael Murpurgo (?sp) and lots of chapter books on her own.

So give her some time to build her confidence - maybe borrow some short story books from the library, or find something great on a topic she is really taken by at the moment (animals, fairies, magic, boarding school!). That might be the leap she needs to becoming a free reader.

But still read to her, knowing extra words, listening to interesting language and hearing sophisticated plots is still really, really important to her. And it's nice bonding time for you both.

For a long time, when we first started chapter books at bedtime, I would read one of her big picture books then one chapter of the chapter book - that was good long way of transitioning to chapter books. She's nearly 8 now so it's usually a chapter book - but occasionally we will pick 3 of her picture books instead for the fun of it (or for the babysitter to read).

I will be very sad when it stops Sometimes she reads to herself afterwards but she has long spells of not wanting to read for herself. She follows my reading though and her reading is very good - when she's inclined.

I read to my 6 year old every night too but she will read a few of the sentences here and there. She loves stories & it's a nice time to snuggle up & have relax before bed

My 6.6yo DD1 still has a bedtime story most nights unless she reads her school book to me in bed. 2yo DD2 has just started coming in to DD1's bed to be read to too. She'll be having a tv in her room over my dead body .

I read to my DD who is 11 most nights and my DS who is 15 will happily listen if he's in the room! She still has 'Guess how much I love you' and other picture books on her shelf which she will secretly ask me to read if she needs a bit of TLC.
I currently read Agatha Christie to her and MC Beaton as well as books for her age.

No you are not babying her at all, and I think it's lovely to continue reading to a child beyond the first few years. DS1 is also 6, Y1, but is a very good reader and likes to read in his head before bed. However, this is usually after one of us has read to him first, he tends to carry on with the story we are reading. A good way to get them more involved with reading at bedtime is to do alternate lines - this worked well for us when he moved on to longer books with chapters, etc which I guess might have been a bit daunting for him when we first got them. Or anything in a speech marks, or a particular character - whatever you feel she might be ready for or enjoy. But there's no reason why you should stop reading to her!

And sometimes he still wants picture books like Dr Seuss - I love reading stuff like Fox in Socks - so funny!

No no no

My DS2 is almost 10 and he still loves a story at bedtime. Sadly with all his activities (and mine! well work and other stuff) we don't always manage it, but at least 1-2 times a week.

Picture books are good - DS2 still likes You Choose if you know that one - but you could maybe progress to some books that will last over a couple of nights? In the past I have read shortened versions of Treasure Island or other classics (Usborne versions) or Just William stories (need to edit them as I go as some of the language is a bit hard) or Roald Dahl, I love George's Marvellous Medicine. It's a lovely thing to do, please keep doing it

My youngest is 6 and in year 1 too, he's a competent reader but still loves to be read to. Reading together is still a huge part of the bedtime routine and will be for as long as I can keep him wanting it :D At the moment he reads us a chapter of his school reading book then I (or daddy) read something to him, sometimes it will be a chapter of a longer book and sometimes it will be something like the gruffalo or a squash and a squeeze. He then goes into bed and sometimes has a chapter of an audio book.

I read to DD (reception) every night.

DS (yr3) is a whole different story!! He refused a bedtime story about half way through yr1 and said it was "babyish" however we have got round that by reading together ie he reads a few pages of his book to me and then I read a couple more.

Read, read , read.. I still remember how upset I was when my mum stopped reading books to me at night ( think I was about 10 ) and still love being read a story and I am way older than 6!!

Ds1 is 8 and never lets us get away without reading him a story, he probably sa=tarted with chapter books at about 6/7 , but picture books are just as enjoyable to all involved.

We read to 6yo ds (and 3yo dd) every night. He is a free reader but far prefers being read to and can understand much more difficult text if it's read to him. He and dd get to choose a book, or chapter of a longer book, each.

I love reading to them, I do it in the day time too and would happily carry on until they leave home!

I read to them until they went to bed too late to make it feasible - it was much later than 6yrs.

Mine are 10 and 12, have always been very good readers, but I still read to them every single night unless I am away with work. We're working our way through the Discworld series at the moment, Terry Pratchett is lovely to read out loud. Keep reading, you are doing your DD so much good!

My dgs is 6[yr1] and a good reader but he would hate to miss out on being read to.It is such a lovely part of the day which can make parent and child feel very close.
I went on reading to mine until they were of an age where they wanted to read a longish book at their own pace.even then we usually had a 'family book' on the go where dh and I would take turns to read aloud in the evening.
We always read A Christmas Carol at Christmas and the Wind in the Willows and the Jungle Book were always popular.

my ds is 10 in year 5. He is an amazing reader, but I still read to him, at his request. He loves the 'Mummy moment' and we read different books, ones he wouldn't read to himself, and we talk about them.

Those bedtime moments are pretty important, and I will not give them up until he doesn't want them any more.
I also read to dd1 aged 8 and dd2 aged 5. They get staggered bedtimes, so they get 15 minutes storytime each.

No bedroom tvs here either