Reading Practice ??

My 9yo is still “practicing” as he is not what I would consider “fluent” and I have him practice aloud two times a day with me sitting right by him. He still uses pathway readers, which he loves, and does not read any of his history/science/literature on his own, yet. Most of the time I’m ok with his level of reading but there are times that it would make our days easier. He’s my youngest so I went at his pace, which I’m still happy with.

He’s the type of boy who becomes exhausted with writing and reading, so pushing him is not really going to help. I have him read aloud to me (or big brothers) for 10 minutes (using a timer) twice a day. He really can’t manage anymore than that and is progressing. Throughout the day, I do have him read math word problems, poetry, copy work selections and any picture book he likes.

Reading silently and reading aloud are two different skills.  I discovered that this year with my nine year old.  She is a voracious reader and narrates well what she reads.  However, I noticed she stumbles a bit and may even skip words when asked to read aloud.  She is accustomed to reading quickly when she reads silently, while reading aloud requires slowing down and enunciating clearly.  She does not like it, but I have recently begun having her read a few pages to me each day.  I call her back to words she didn’t pronounce correctly or skipped or just plain read incorrectly.  It drives her nuts because she knows what it meant even if she didn’t say what was written.  However, I am sticking with it.  I feel this is another way for me to help her focus completely on the task at hand- the attention habit that CM mentioned so often.

If your child is an independent reader, I would recommend that you allow him/her to read something silently each day, read something aloud each day, and listen to you read aloud something each day.  I think that should provide a well rounded approach to reading.