Keeping kid's listening…

I’ve never forced my little ones to listen to me read aloud. My 9 and 12 year old boys hated for me to read aloud to them when they were little. I would make them go somewhere else if they weren’t willing to sit quietly and listen, though, so they wouldn’t disturb the rest of us. That’s just a basic respect issue.

Having said that, sometime between 7 and 8 years old is my magic number. That’s when one starts being a big kid around here, and if he doesn’t want to listen, he’d better suck it up and do it anyway. 🙂 My youngest boy is in this range now, but he’s always like read alouds, so it’s not an issue (usually) for him.

I’ve never allowed my boys to play while I read because they get too into their play and don’t hear me. Battle sounds, explosions, etc, and at least one of them will do the same thing while drawing. I digress, but do you have any idea how many red colored pencils four boys can go through with blood and fire pictures?

Anyway, the how. I’d send the little one to her room while the bigs listened. I’d give middle son an adjustment period before acting up resulted in a loss of privileges. If little one insists that she wants to listen, too, I’d separate her and her cohort. If she acts up, then I’d send her to her room without the option of listening. Usually, silence and a pointed look is enough to restore some sort of quiet.

You may just need to decide HOW MUCH you want middle son to listen to this book. It might be best to send both of them to another room while eldest listens. If quiet play has worked for a long time, but now it’s not, I’d worry that they were developing bad habits over their lack of interest in this book, habits which may last beyond the book. He may just not be ready for this book yet. It’s that tricky gray area. For that age, a not-so-fun book has to have a subject that’s interesting to the child. Well, actually, that’s true for me, too. And they DO outgrow a lot of this. Look at eldest son and remember it gets better.

I do a lot of lunch time reading too-and I don’t worry about whether or not they are listening. Mine are 12, 7 and 6. I can’t tell you how many times I thought for sure no one heard anything-but then, a few days later, I’ll be surprised when one of them comes and practically recites the entire reading back to me! My point being, they may be soaking up much more than you realize!

I’ve considered the lunch time reading, but we eat with my husband, and I hate to miss out on the conversations/fights (*L* — discipline opportunities!)!!! 

I just outlaw books, wedgits, etc.  I only have girls, so my house is quite different than a house with boys.  Our girls can do handwork – knitting (knotting, really *L*), finger weaving, etc.  Or just laying with their eyes open or closed.  Our girls are only 9 (in a few days), 7, 5, 3 — so this works.  As soon as read alouds are done, we do our listening (must lay down or sit quietly) and then, if I’m lucky, the youngest falls asleep.  AFter the listening is over, those of us who wish to get up and go outside. (Or make dinner, if you’re the mom.)  We’ve been doing it this way for three years, so they’re used to it.  I’m considering changing things, but I’m afraid! *L*