Reading to/with 8 year old - inspiration needed!

[PeanutButterOnly]

Hi all - just wondering how often and how and what you read to and with your 8/9 year olds? I'm finding recently that ds is reluctant to read to and with me. I offer to read to him most days but he'd rather play lego or sometimes watch TV between say 7.30 and 8.00. At 8pm he goes to bed and usually reads by himself (a book or a comic) for around 30 mins. I just don't know whether to push this. Normally I'm tired by 7.30pm and have read already with his younger brother and sister. And it's becoming easy not to read with ds1. But I do want to share books with him and I know it's important. Just wondering what others' experiences were? Thanks in advance

[toomuchicecream]

Can you read the same book as him - not necessarily at exactly the same time, but more or less alongside. That way you can talk to him about what has happened and what might happen next, and share opinions about the book. By his age, in my opinion, that's more important than hearing him read to you. And I agree, I loved sharing books with my DS, but if he doesn't want to, it will become a chore rather than a pleasure. The other thing that worked really well with my DS was audio books. He couldn't be bothered to read by himself, but by listening to the audio version he was still be exposed to the character development, plots, vocabulary, sentence structure etc etc etc and was able to join in conversations at school about the books others were reading. At 16 he still goes to sleep with an audio book now...

[simpson]

DS is 7 (yr3) and whatever book he is currently reading I then read a few pages to him too.

So Charlotte's Web or HP etc..

He also has a 5 yr old sister who is enjoying Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (me reading to her) and DS listens to that too (despite knowing the book).

[PolkadotCircus]

I have 3 - 2 9 year old boys and an 8 year old girl.

They all read to themselves for 2 hours a day(7 until 9 in bed).Listen to them once a week but know it should be more,going to try and do it a lot more.Have started to get dp to read to them as I didn't enjoy being corrected or the fidgeting with all 3 at once but he recently just seems to read pages of their book after hearing a page iykwim.Good for modelling I guess.

As an ex literacy co-ordinator I know I should be hearing them read and reading to them a whole lot more than I am.Going to try and get organised a bit more next term plus lights out earlier however dd will read in the dark if I switch the light off early.

[Chrysanthemum5]

I tend to let DS read by himself as he's a god reader. However I wil read some (or all) of the book and then ask him to tell me about the plot. I'll ask about different characters etc to check he's understood what he's read.

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

The eight year olds read to themselves in bed for about half an hour every evening. They read aloud to me three times a week (required by school) and then we chat about the book. I'm afraid I haven't read to them regularly for a couple of years now.

[sittinginthesun]

My 9 year old boy reads to himself for at least an hour at night, but is reluctant to read out loud to me these days. He will read to his younger brother, which is great. He will also listen to me read to his brother, so I encourage that too.

He is advanced in literacy, but has never been that keen on fiction, so when he is reading it, I tend to leave him to it. Teacher is aware, and says it is fine.

[PeanutButterOnly]

Thanks for the replies. I think I need to engage more with what he is reading and check his understanding. He seems to race through books sometimes...

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

When they are part of the way through a book, I check recall by asking them to do a "previously in this book..." summary, similar to the voiceover you get at the beginning of each episode of a television drama. Likewise, prediction can be checked by asking them to do the "next in this book..." that you'd get at the end of an episode.

[shallweshop]

I am in the same position with my 8 year old DD. just tonight I asked her to read with me but generally she just wants to draw, write stories or make cards. I have not pushed it too much as she has a very good reading age but I would really like her to be more into books and use reading as a way of relaxing, just as I did at her age. I am going to try her on the Enid Blyton Mallory Towers books to see if they will encourage her.

[OldBeanbagz]

My DS was similar but recently has actually started to pick up a book to read to himself at bedtime and again in the morning. I think he was just getting bored of the books at school so he's picking one from home instead (Tom Gates today).

So tonight i listened to both him & DD read and then started reading a new book to them. Four chapters later...

I think so long as your DS is reading some of the time, it doesn't matter that you're not reading to him every day though i would check that he's actually understanding what he's reading. Maybe get him to tell you the story in his own words?

[beamme]

I try and mix it up a bit. A couple nights he reads to himself, then another I read to him, he reads to me or I read to him and my DD. The some nights I ask my DS (7) to read to his sister (5). He enjoys the responsibility and I can listen to how he's doing.