Reading books independently?

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  • October 20, 2014 at 9:37 am
    MeadowWay
    Participant

    What age /grade level are you having your child read their subject matter independently? And what was the cue for you to take that next step? What would you rely on as a measuring stick that they were reading thoroughly enough ? I know narration is the preferred CM method, but would you then have them narrate from every book daily?

    Thank you in advance for your insights

    Kk

    October 20, 2014 at 12:41 pm
    JenniferM
    Participant

    When my daughter was choosing historical books to read on her own, I knew she could handle independent readings. (about age 8 for her. I do not anticipate my son will be ready at that age.). She narrated orally that year ALL assigned readings. The perk to a child raised on narrating lessons is that child often narrates personal readings! :). As a nine year old, she sometimes writes her narrations. She likes to write.

    When she was seven, I sometimes had her read independently and sometimes aloud to me. Either way, she then narrated what she read. For reading practice, I used old readers (1920s or so) and the Christian Liberty Nature Readers. The subjects of her assigned reading at that stage were literature and science. I read aloud Bible and history.

    So the cue: when my child could read something on her own and tell me about it. Don’t worry if it seems later than you hope. There is quite a lot to be gained from listening to quality books read aloud. Just keep the narrations going. 🙂

    October 21, 2014 at 3:19 am
    jmac17
    Participant

    First, we narrate all assigned books everytime, regardless of whether they were read aloud or independently.

    I don’t know if there were specific cues or signs that told me that my kids should read independently.  I had my kids read aloud on a regular basis, and once I knew that they could handle the material, I’d have them read the occasional chapter by themselves (usually when I had to go change a diaper or deal with a toddler.)  It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.  I would let them read something and see how it goes.  If they could narrate well, I’d know I could assign that book for independent reading again.  If I got narrations like “There was a guy and he did some stuff,” I’d know that they weren’t ready to take over reading that book.  Sometimes it might be a more challenging book, sometimes it might just be something that they were less interested in and so they tended to skim through.  My son, for example, can read and narrate science books well and does okay with history, but thinks literature books are boring unless I read them.

    If you think the child is ready, try it out and see what happens!  Every child is so different, that’s really the best way I know to figure them out.

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