When and how often do your children read

[Tonytonitonee]

I have a 10 yr old son and 8 daughter who aren't avid readers. I have tired to get them to read but with limited success.

We read for 10 minutes in the morning, while I prepare their breakfast.
In the evening, it's hit or miss. I am so tired that after cooking I go to sleep around 7pm. DH comes home and 6:30 and he will try to get them to read but with limited success.

Do you have a set timetable each day. If so, what is your timetable.
I really feel I have messed up by being so disorganised.

They need to be reading earlier in the evening - maybe read to you while you are cooking? Did you read to them regularly when they were little? Could you have a family reading time at weekends when everyone sits down with a book? We used to do that every day in school holidays.

Is this their school reading books? We read over breakfast because mine is too tired in the evening.

Going to sleep at 7pm is not normal though, are you on medication or unwell?

My children read before bed. I make them read at least one chapter of their book a night (age 10 and 7). They don't read much outside this but sometimes will read a bit extra.

Daily before bed. Their schools also have lots of reading time incorporated into their day.
My DS is an avid reader, so he's easy. My DD, not avid but enjoys books, but not all books.

I think the key is to find books/ comics,magazines that they enjoy. It does not have to be books. Reading nothing is good. U absolutely hates reading books that I had to read and was not enjoying and still do now. It becomes a chore which reading should never be.

Not sure why my post said reading nothing is good! I think that was an auto correct!

As soon as they get in from school or after school club.
They now read to themselves which makes things easier.
When they were younger and we needed to listen to them we read straight after bath time but that only works when they are little and need to read for 10 or 15mins otherwise it's a lot of time for each child to play nicely while the other reads aloud

Mine reads in bed before lights out for half a hour. Not an avid reader but if we find the right books she can’t put them down. Has taken a fair bit of trial and error to find the kind of thing she likes.

My older dc reads for about 20m on the couch before school, lucky him, before bed and during the day on weekends and whenever we're in the car. My younger dc reads in the car and before bed unless he has a new book then he'll read on the couch during the day. Do you read yourself? I think k that helps. Encourage it but don't force it and ensure screen time isn't taking over.

We do homework before dinner and the reading after dinner and once pj's are on so around 7.30. There's no way I could go to sleep before my DD as I like to do reading and her night time routine with her. I feel like your missing out a lot by going to sleep at 7pm - do you have to get up really early?

My DD was not an enthusiastic self motivated reader until recently, and she started doing before lights out a while ago. Now she likes to read about 40 pages a night, and always reads at least 1 page per night wherever we are.

Told me the other day that she's on a streak of 7 months and 6 days.

7:15pm every night for 15 mins. Everyone is home by then, even if they’ve had clubs etc. I have an alarm set on my phone as a reminder

School reading out loud, as soon as they have finished their after school snacks. Reading to themselves - whenever they want, which is all the time for DS2 but not much for DS1. And both always read to themselves in bed for 15 min or so before turning the light out to go to sleep. (Isn't that what all adults do? Or did before smart phones...)

10 year old reads to herself for about 45 mins after school and another 45 mins before bed. 9 year old just does the 45 mins before bed usually.

When younger (still the case for my 6yo), they read to me earlier in evening and I read to them before bed with them reading occasional paragraph.
8yo reads to me for min 30mins at bedtime everyday but loves reading so will often be reading alone when they get a chance.
We discuss the story as we go to be sure they are understanding it

We also go to the library every week so they can pick what they want to read. This is the time where they choose want they want without being restricted by school levels/bands. If the book is a bit hard, we read it together and I help them.

I take my 6YO dd to school twice a week so we read in the morning on those days. We then usually read some time before bed in the evening pretty much every day. I also read her at least one story/chapter of a book a day and she will sometimes read to herself to get to sleep at bedtime. Normalise it being fun and comfortable would be my advice. Snuggle under a blanket with a drink and a snack. Treat them to books that are actually going to interest them and get them at least one book for Christmas/birthdays. If you don't want them to think it's a chore then try not to make it one.

I think going to bed before your kids do isn't helping, but I'm guessing there's a reason why you're so exhausted by 7pm.

Can you do some while dinner is cooking? Can you really not manage to stay up half an hour or so later to do some pre-bedtime reading with them both? Can you find a book they will both enjoy and all takes turn reading a page or so?

I think family time for reading is a great idea. I didn't read regularly to them, it was very much of and on, not everyday

I get up around 5am - but i am usually very tired by 7pm

Mine couldn't manage 45 mins

I think this is a large part of the issue, as a fairly standard reading time is when you put your children to bed. However your DH can also take on the responsibility for that. When you say he tried without much success… exactly how hard did he try?

What are you trying to get them to read OP? Nothing wrong with reading comic type things like Dog Man for the younger one and Diary of a wimpy Kid for the older one. You want them in the habit of understanding that reading is an enjoyable relaxing leisure activity. Once they understand that they can more onto more challenging things.

We also always take books or magazines for the kids when we go out, so they can read if we are on the tube or a bus or waiting to be served on a cafe or restaurant.

My kids have all been very different with their reading. We don't have specified times at all for my 9 year old daughter - she reads whenever she feels like it and has free time and ends up reading around an hour per day. Maybe a bit less on the weekend as there are events she's busy with.

My 5 year old reads to me for 10 minutes every morning and then do a 20 minute bedtime story where I read to her. It's fairly smooth and her reading level is on track.

Their older sister read for like 3 hours every week day and would have read for longer but we made her go to bed!! She's 15 and still an avid reader. Her twin sister HATED reading though. We tried to just do 10 minutes after school ( could never manage the morning when she was grumpy!) and it didn't work a lot of the time. We gave up forcing her by Year 7 and she just read her school books. She's now 15 and doing GCSEs and definitely isn't amazing at English but she is decent. My son just read 30 minutes as a duty and didn't complain but didn't enjoy it a whole lot honestly.

She is 6 sorry

@Tonytonitonee do you have to be up at 5am? That seems really early, unless you have to for work? We read in the evenings snuggled up in bed! It's one of my favourite times of day. My DD is younger though (6), so maybe easier to get her to read!