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First year of Independent Reading? How much is too much?
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My oldest child will be in 4th grade this upcoming year. I will be assigning some independent reading for the first time. He does check books out at the library and he also reads to me multiple times a week. However, this will be my first experience assigning him to read on his own and then come back and narrate to me. When you introduce a child to independent reading, how often are they reading independently in this way and how much do you assign? He is a good reader, although not advance and not behind. I appreciate your feedback ladies.
Regan
When I first make this move I have a child read either a set number of pages per day or a set amount of time. For example, read for 10 minutes or read 5 pages. As their proficiency increases we move up to 1 chapter or 20-30 minutes, but we move up slowly. And I don’t hand all their books over for this, we start with one book (literature) and then when they are comfortable with that we move to 2 (could be literature and nature lore or literature and history). It goes from there as they get older.
Thank you for this question. I’m moving in that direction next year as well. DD9 had been reading her literature reads on her own this year, but I plan to add history and/or science next year. Adding written narrations is kind of making me nervous as well. She’s a great oral narrator, but isn’t as confident using pencil and paper.
And thankyou, Tristan for your answer! Very helpful.
I agree. A set amount of pages helps–even if it’s just 5 pages they will start to add up. My 10yo son read Black Beauty and My Side of the Mountain this year a little at a time. Or a set amount of time, such as 20 minutes. I would ask him to come tell me about it after he read or sometimes draw a picture of something that happened and do a written narration once/week but I would not correct this for spelling/punctuation.
Very helpful. Thank you Tristan! I must say, he is very attentive during read alouds and gives great narrations. I think he is ready. Tristan, I like the idea of just starting with 1 book for literature and eventually adding another in for nature lore or history. I am working my way through Hearing and Reading, Telling and Writing as I try to get some specifics as well as the big picture. Michelle, I understand what you mean by “written narrations make me nervous”. We will be taking the leap this year in that area as well. Melissa, thank you for sharing your experience. I also think My Side of the Mountain would be a great book for my son as well. Thank you ladies! Very helpful.
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