Bedtime Reading for Siblings

Hi,

We have a similar problem with my boys (3 and 6). So far, all we've been able to do is simply find a different time of the day to have my older one practice his own reading. But I am looking forward to reading other responses.

You can set a reading aloud time for the older one before or after dinner or maybe while you are cookinh dinner.

I am a second grade teacher. Hearing you read with inflection and attention to punctuation will help both of your children learn to read aloud. When reading levels are scored oral reading is taken into account.Your second grader needs to strenghten his oral reading skills to truly be at a fourth grade level. Buddy reading may help. Read Kinder level books at bed time working on drama so both boys can practice. All three of you rotate, taking turns acting with your voices as you read. Try simple plays. This might not be best done at bedtime, but it would help with building oral language skills. Have fun with dramatic reading!

What if your older one does his reading at a different time of day and reads his brother one of his "old favorites" from when he was younger? Maybe he will develop his story telling with a story he is familiar with...

Read aloud with mom should be mom reading. This is a cherished time with you, to love stories, hear good reading(intonation, inflection, recognition of punctuation, etc.), and a wonderful settling activity.

That being said, your 8 year old should be reading independently from books that sound like a conversation when he reads out loud. If he is skipping punctuation, he is not recognizing key elements in language. You can gently explain to him as you read with him one-on-one what you are doing. Maybe he needs this direct instruction.

I'm wondering if this lack of awareness to punctuation impacts his comprehension. I suspect it would. (Yes, I'm a teacher.) My 2nd graders, who is 7, ignored punctuation in the fall and now recognizes the power it holds. It helps her shout, give a dramatic pause, matter of factly state, etc. Punctuation is her friend.

For writing I use a picture book called Eat Shoots and Leaves and it's sequel, Twenty-one Odd Ducks: Why Every Punctuation Mark Counts. I read this with my daughter to make a point about how to read punctuation. It really helped. She loved being dramatic.

I'm in Campbell,if you need some support with this.
Stephanie

Ask your 6 year old to be patient while mommy helps his brother read with "excitement". Then, you could read one page aloud and your 8 year old could read the next page aloud. You read with exaggerated influction and challenge him to do the same. It could be really fun!

I have these books called "We Both Read" Books where the parent reads the left page and the child reads the right page. I've used these to help my children with influction. There are different levels. They are published by Treasure Bay, Inc. in Redwood City.

My 7 year old and I just crack up laughing sometimes when we do the exaggerated reading. It does help them recognize the punctuation marks. If your 8 yr old reads a line monotone that should have had more excitement, just ask him in a silly way - "WHAT was that? or HOWWWW does a question mark sound? or WOW THAT exclamation mark had a hard day!"

Good luck! Having the siblings read to each other is a wonderful way to encourage great habits. My 12 yr old has a lot more homework these days, but will often drop what he's doing to catch part of a story I read to his 7 yr old brother. Sometimes, he even stays for the 7 yr old to read, and sometimes he reads to us, too. He read to his little brother a lot more when he was younger. Now my daughter chimes in when she's home from college if I need a helping hand with bedtime stories, since the 12 yr old is getting busier with homework and sports.

Mom of 4: 19, 12, 7, 4mos

i have struggled with my daughter 'speed reading' as well. one thing that worked for me to help her slow down and enjoy the story was to alternate the reading. she would read a page or so, then i would read the next. she could then hear the difference. you might also want to try encouraging him to slow down and you can interject some comments periodically, or ask questions. 'wow, i wonder what i would do next. what would you do?' that can also help him pause and reflect on what he has read to encourage comprehension. our advanced readers are great at figuring out the words and going for broke with how much they can read, but we can forget that it takes time to build the ability to absorb what they are reading out loud.
i'm sure the younger one could watch you read and build his skills at the same time.

I don't know if anyone else has suggested this, but as a teacher, I highly recommend that your older son read aloud books that are really easy for him so that he can practice his expressiveness. He can read books that are interesting to your younger son. You can read the 4th grade books out loud to both of them.

The number one way for kids to improve their own reading is to listen to a fluent reader read out loud. Another great way for kids to improve their reading is to read the same book over and over again, so if your older son reads the same book out loud to your younger son, this can be great learning for both of them.

Have fun, I love reading to my kids, it is so fun and such a special time for them!

Mine are younger but my 5 yr old "reads" to my 2 yr old. Of course she doesn't get all the words right but she's already using influction in her voice to make it interesting. My advice is not to pressure the older one and to let him change the story or read it his own way ... making up some of the words rather than verbatim. You want to keep it fun for both so I suggest letting them read to each other in the morning upon waking in bed. At night let them just relax and listen to you read. You don't want the older one to hate it so my suggestion is to give him free creative license to change the story or make up his own.

I have a five year old and 8 year old. We do the same thing. My eldest reads aloud, usually my youngest plays quietly. Then I read a book outloud. It works. I agree, it is important that your oldest be reading. The only other thing I can think of is maybe having your oldest read at some other part of the day. But my approach has been to teach my youngest to be quiet even if he's not listening to the story. He'll need to know that anyway for school next year!

You and your older son should read by alternating paragraphs. This way little brother stays engaged and older brother learns out loud reading skills from listening to you every other paragraph.

I would probably have the older child read fairy tales to your younger son. Things like "Three Little Pigs" and encourage him to do different voices for each character. Once he is thinking about these types of voices, punctuation and other inflections will make more sense.

I only have 1 child, but grew up being the oldest of 4 and I remember sitting in the kitchen while my mom or Granma was cooking dinner and reading to her then. Now, my 6 yr old reads to me while I am cooking dinner or doing dishes, then at bedtime, she reads with Dad and they alternate who reads, one night she reads a chapter, the next night, he reads the next chapter.

Some of the sweetest memories I have of my children is reading to them. As a busy wife and mother who was also involved with PTA and Special Education I fond that no outside event was more important than reading to my children. I now get to see that they have continued this tradition with their own children. As I have children of various ages we would read first to the little ones and spent hours it seems with dinasours, peter pan,and mother goose then while the little ones played or were in their beds we had chapter books and read one chapter in the mornings and one at night. We got through Robinson Curusio, Huck Finn, Treasure Island and Nancy Drew. We even got out the encyclopedea's and read by topics because they were short, interesting, and taught them alot of useful information. If it was a tough day I would read to them to calm the troops down. There are so many worlds to visit and dreams to dream in books.
Since one of our children is disabled we found that reading time was even more important for him to learn.
I wish you joy in the adventure of motherhood and with your children. NanaGlenda

My kids are younger, but I have my son pick two books and then my daughter pick two. Maybe you can do some version of this by having the younger one listen to his brother read one chapter, then have you read the other? Or can dad read with your older son and you can read to the little one?
Good luck!

It sounds as though you are busy, but I would still suggest, given the situation, that you listen to them read aloud separately, then you read aloud to them together for the bedtime story. This would also allow you one-on-one time with each boy, and still that final together time with all of you. Perhaps some nights, your husband could read with one and you could read with the other for the read-aloud portion, if you want this to be done at the same time.

Just spend 20 minutes a night reading with your oldest, having him read to you. It's not bedtime story, it's reading practice time. And you're right, they don't get enough out loud reading time at school, you have to supplement at home!

T.,

How does your oldest speak? Does he have prosody ( that is the sing song nature of our speech...children love mommuies and teachers and theatrics for that but it does not come naturally for everyone...Developing a music skill helps with prosody of speech.singing, your modelling...As little brother has it naturally, maybe he can wear a headset so big bro is not self conscious of his level and can feel free to practic..maybe give him a recorder to practic..move makie videos to see and hear..ALL Postive of course. Some of this is speech and language processing and some is temperment and personality...Have your oldest mirror you a little too, you read aloud, then him...no criticism, just keep highlighting his inflections..Take him to plays and theater...read the book THE READING LESSON.. too in between that juggling of the schedules..BEST

My husband and I are participating in the Early literacy program for Palo Alto Schools and work with second graders . They read to us and have problems with inflection and pausing for punctuation. Sometimes this indicates they are not really comprehending what they read at least the first time through. One thing that worked with my son when he was much older and liked to act was having him read as though he were trying out for a part in a play and exaggerating the expression. Another thing that might work is having all three of you take turns and reading slowly with a lot of expression so the older boy will take his time rather than hurrying through. It will be good if he also can read the words silently to himself when you and his little brother are doing the out loud reading.

We were told in our training that if comprehension is a problem and it is not solved by the end of third grade the children have a hard time afterwards in all school subjects since reading is so involved and so important. It is wonderful that you are doing this and a fun family activity that can be even more fun and helpful in the long run for both boys. My husband and I also read out loud to each other and we are great-grandparents..N.

Hi T., bedtime reading is awesome, good for you! Please try to creatively find a way to read to both boys independently, as well as both together. Your 2nd grader will increase his reading fluency and expressiveness by hearing you read and visually tracking along with you. It's also important for your younger son not to have to listen to older brother read if it's not enjoyable for him. Reading is pure bliss, and you want both of them to feel successful with it. If older son reads with comprehension at 4th grade level, it's the perfect time for him to take on trying to interject expressiveness and meaning into his oral reading. Time spent alone with each, reading to them , will pay off. Also try having them read to themselves in the mirror, to practice "telling" a story while reading it aloud, or read to their stuffed animals, to practice expressive fluency. And your modeling is important. Have a reading time during the day sometimes, where every family member just goes to the family room to read for 20 minutes. Enjoy the boys, they sound terrific!

Have your boy read for a brief period of time (5 or so mins.) then you take over.