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Stopping during Read Alouds
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My dd is almost 6. She listens very well for someone her age, but some of the books we read use terms or expressions that I know she either hasn’t heard before or doesn’t understand. I have been stopping to explain or add in the meaning on the fly. I’m not sure if this is a good habit to get into. Should I just ask her if there is something she wants me to explain after we have finish the chapter, or let her interrupt (which she will if I don’t explain) when she doesn’t understand. How do you all handle this?
~ Cindie
This is a good question. I’ve been stopping and explaining because if we wait till the end we both will forget. but I would like to hear what others do too.
Kristen
I’m also interested in the response to this question. It’s funny because I was JUST talking about this very thing with a friend. In books with more complicated language I tend to stop a lot, but then it seems to not only interupt the flow of the story but decrease, at least, my enjoyment. But I’m afraid that they won’t understand otherwise. Thruthfully, it has made me relunctant to read some of these books. For instance, those with “old” english.
Stopping too frequently will hinder overall understanding and enjoyment of the reading. AND you may tend to overanalyze FOR the child instead of letting him work it out. That’s what CM called getting between the text and the child. We want the book to speak directly to the child.
If you have to stop a lot to explain, I’d say the book may be too advanced.
But yes, I do stop and give tips on new words. I try to find logical places to stop, usually after several paragraphs or a couple of pages. If your child can narrate back a general understanding without those new words, then it’s okay. [Often we can guess at a word’s meaning by the context, and that’s an excellent reading skill to hone. You don’t have to understand every tiny bit of what you read/hear to enjoy or even understand a book.]
BUT if the narration is lacking because so many words were not comprehensible, then yes, you’d need to go back, re-read that section and discuss the words. Then read the sentence again as the writer wrote it so the child can do the work to understand.
I’d say the main pitfalls to avoid would be doing too much of the thinking FOR the child and chopping up the reading (breaking the author’s flow).
I think you are right. It’s mom getting in the way. If the book is age appropriate, then let it go and see how much she understands on her own. She’s not quite at narration age yet, so I don’t want to start doing that; but I knew what I was doing was interupting the flow of the author. So I’ll sit back and let her ask the questions.
Thanks.
I agree with others who encourage you to simply read the book and not stop often. I will stop to briefly explain something if the unknown word, phrase, or passage is crucial, such as a turning point, in the plot. Otherwise, I just keep reading. It’s amazing what the kids will pick up, even if they don’t understand each and every word.
Yes, I suspected that what I was doing wasn’t helpful. 🙂 And in all likelyhood I’m underestimating my children’s ability to comprehend. I’ll work on changing that, too.
My son is a questioner so I’m going to try something different this year. Before I read, I’m going to quickly scan the part I’m going to read, write down any words they may not understand (beause don’t we KNOW our children well enough to make an educated guess at this?) and review after the paragraph is over, since that is a natural break point.
Just my idea I’m going to try.
Rachel
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