Reading - primary age

[juststopraining]

DS is 8.5. Year 4. We got out of the habit of him reading a few pages to me each evening and now he looks at or reads books in bed. Trouble is, how do I know he's reading them properly? What if there's a word he doesn't understand or if he's not reading in his head with the right expression. I'm not sure he's on a book band at school anymore, they just choose a book and read themselves I believe. Any help or advice appreciated.

Primary teacher here. It’s fantastic that he is reading to himself in bed. A huge part of reading is enjoyment and learning which types of books they enjoy etc. I wouldn’t worry about expression or whether he understands the words - just focus on the pleasure of reading! Y4 kids at my school are only on a book band if the teacher thinks they need it. Otherwise they choose themselves. The things you worry about above are part of the national curriculum so he will be being taught these skills in school. Basically: don’t worry! If you want to help just talk about books! Talk about a book you’re reading and what’s happened so far, ask about what he’s reading etc.

Hope this helps!

I'd say if he's picking up the book and willingly reading it, then he's not struggling, so that's a good sign. I would maybe ask him how he's going with it. Ask him if there are any words he has had difficulty with or didn't understand. Ask him what he does when he comes up against a word he doesn't recognise.

I read on my own in bed from about that age. It wasn't until I reached adulthood that I realised I was 'mispronouncing' in my head one or two words, but it never held me back from reading or loving books.

Most words he should get from the context, but you could show him how to look things up in a dictionary?

Thanks for the replies. Is there a good childrens dictionary and thesaurus any of you would recommend?

They get to a point where there's little point in listening to them read, because although there may be words they're mispronouncing or not understanding, the chances of those cropping up on the pages you listen to a slim.

We discovered a useful bit of reading on holiday, as the cottage we were renting had a trivia game. DD played questionmaster, and that was very useful - the vocabulary was harder, so she did have to read unfamiliar words. Also, whilst they can resent you interrupting a story to ask if they know what a word means, in the trivia game she was doing the asking, in order to understand the question.

Just go back to listening to him once in a while? Doesn't have to be all or nothing. My yr3 mostly reads to herself now, but I still hear her read once a week or so. School encourage us to hear even the Yr 6's now and again. Reading aloud, clearly, is a fab skill to have too.

Pencil and paper by his bed. Encourage him to jot down any new words, or page numbers if he's not sure of the meaning of a sentence/paragraph, or indeed if he finds a section that is funny or shocking or he wants to share with you for any reason!

I wouldn't recommend any primary or children's dictionary or thesaurus by this age. DD outgrew these by Y1, ie some words she tried to look up weren't in them. We have the Oxford Concise and a Collins thesaurus, but anything similar will be fine.

DD has an electronic dictionary bookmark, which does the job very well and is a pleasing little gadget!

Reading out loud is very different from reading silently, so if your DS is willing (or not too unwilling!) I would try to reinstate a bit of reading out loud, even if it's only once or twice per week. It is such a good skill to be able to read out loud with correct emphasis, not rushing etc. You could alternate paragraphs. Our DD is in Y7 now, but we still do a bit of reading out loud, now and then. We have a book of topics for philosophical debate, aimed at children, and she will read the 'argument' out loud and then we'll discuss it. An OP's suggestion of trivia question cards is also a good one.

Same here with the mispronunciation but probably well into adulthood- mostly names in older books, so names I hadn't come across before but also several names in Harry Potter. Didn't effect my reading and to be honest I still often use my versions in my head when reading!

Hey! I’m a primary teacher with a nearly 9 yo girl (Feb baby) I still sit with her in bed and read a book to her. We have a big book that has 250 or so pages in it. I just get her to read a couple of pages before I start. That way I can hear her, see if she’s able to read it and check her understanding if certain words.
sometimes she sighs about having to read, and sometimes she will read forever.
I like that I still read with her in bed, because she talks about school and how her day has been. If I try to get this info from her straight after school she just says she can’t remember!
her cousin is 9 in June, and reads to herself in bed.

You could ask what sort of dictionary/thesaurus resources they use in school, so she'll be familiar with them.

Our school (yr 4& 5) ask that we listen to them read once a week but suggest they read to themselves each night.

Then the parents make a comment in their reading record as do the children.

I read to mine each night (agree it’s nice to have that time and that’s when they tell me something troubling them or something funny that happened that they forgot to mention )

I do listen to reading - both fluent but there are some words I need to explain. I tend to listen to a few pages after they finish homework and I read to them at night