What age did your DCs start to read independently for fun?

[ironrooster]

DD5 is coming up to the end of reception now.

She's an able reader - on green books (ORT level 5 although she did bring home a level 7 turquoise book recently, I assume it was a mistake but she could read that fine too) and was given exceeding on her report for reading. Sorry, I know this sounds like a stealth boast but just wanting to show that she can read well.

We read her school books that she gets 3 times a week and I read to her every night. She reads things in her environment but is yet to pick up a book and start reading to herself, whether aloud or silently.

What age do children start doing this? Should I be encouraging her or just wait until she naturally starts herself?

DD1 has just started really reading for pleasure at the very end of year 1 - she is almost 7. It has surprised me how quickly it taken off though. 3 or 4 weeks ago she would read her school books and occasionally read a picture book to her sister but she generally just wanted to be read to. I was reading her a Daisy and the trouble with ......book and needed to go and get my dinner. She wanted to know what would happen so told her to keep her lamp on and look at the pictures for 10 mins if she wanted. I went to check on her half an hour later and she had read to the end of the book. Since then she has been reading 3 or 4 chapter books a week.

DS is also 5 but coming to the end of Year 1 - he's just moved to turqoise and this seems to be the point where he is really reading fluently rather than sounding out everything. He's started reading to himself for pleasure this term I'd say, and has only just mastered reading in his head rather than out loud

Mine are six and at the end of Y1. They're decent readers, but it's only in the last three months or so that I've noticed they'll regularly pick up a book off their own bat.

DD1 (yr3) is a perfectly good reader but doesn't read for fun yet. She hates the school books and is happier reading her own choice but still wouldn't pick up a book for fun yet. I'm crossing my fingers she will one day as I'm a huge reader and would love her to be too. But I try not to push it, just make sure she has an interesting supply of books around and hopefully she'll get it soon.

Comics! DS devours non-fiction anyway and has done for the last year or so (he's just turned 6). But we find that most of his reading for pleasure is Match of the Day magazine, or National Geographic Kids - they're more accessible to him than a book as they're easier to dip in and out of. Now he's at the point he won't let me read to him at bedtime - he'd rather sit in bed and read to himself. It's a shame really - I miss our bedtime snuggle up with a book!

Mine started towards the end of reception. At first we thought she couldn't possibly be understanding and following the whole story (only rainbow fairies type stuff but still..) but she obviously was and is now at 7 a complete book worm and will literally read for hours to herself.

My older child was 9. She'd been able to decode words reasonably well since the age of 6.5, but it was too slow and tiring to be enjoyable. Then something just clicked and chapter books became attainable.

The younger one is 10 and not there yet.

Ds1 - before starting school.
Ds2 - year 4

End of year 1 for both DCs.

DS1 I think around 6.5/7 - suddenly got into reading all my old Roald Dahl books and at 8 still loves reading.

DS2 is 6 and hasn't got into chapter books yet but loves non-fiction books. I got him a load of the Usborne books on snakes, elephants, cats, anything really and he loves reading them. I think a long book needing to be read in order doesn't appeal to him, he's much happier with one he can open a page at random

I still read to them both before bed though!!

DD is also in Reception and a confident reader. Hers best time for reading to herself is in bed at night, or when she wakes up. She romps through trash such as Rainbow Magic at such times.

Until recently she has read all of her school books to us. Now though, they are getting too long (over a hundred pages sometimes) so she'll read the first couple of chapters out loud to us, and if she is not challenged by the language/meaning upto then, she'll take the rest of the book up to bed to read to herself. In the morning she's always happy to discuss the book with us.

Perhaps set the environment up for reading in bed (bedside table, reading light) and offer some appropriate (not too challenging) books, and see what happens?