ADHD 1st grader—did you force reading out loud?

[Anonymous]

My ADHD kid’s “homework” is to read out loud for 20 minutes/night. She hates it and 20 minutes feels so long to her. Should I keep pushing this or let it go? She’s probably at or slightly below grade level for reading (CVC words mostly), but has been tested and does not have a learning disability.

[Anonymous]

Break it up. It doesn't have to be 20 consecutive minutes. 5 in the morning, 5 after school, 5-10 later. Take turns reading (alternate pages, for example, or look for those stories that are written as take-turns).

[Anonymous]

We did “I read a page you read a page” at some point. But overall, no to forcing out loud. We read together (me to my kid) instead bc that’s very valuable for vocabulary, comprehension, communication, etc. Reading out loud is such an ES skill. Outside of my kids, I can go weeks without reading out loud in my life, so I don’t see that particular skill as critical.

Mostly I see it as my job to make reading fun. That’s worth more than a bit more practice at phonics or whatever, especially for an ADHD kid where their motivation means the difference between that incredible hyper focus and the complete inability to focus.

[Anonymous]

We do homework the best we can but have to pick our battles. Sometimes it's just not going to happen

[Anonymous]

We did all of the suggestions above. Breaking it up into smaller times. Alternating pages or even lines (in poetry). On hard days I just read out loud. Once in awhile I had my child point to the words as I read out loud.

Try and figure out when your child is best able to handle this task. By bed time my ADHD kid was fried and there was no way it was going to happen. Right after school didn't work well either because they needed a mental break. For us the most successful time/environment was while I was cooking dinner. DC would read to me while I worked in the kitchen. This gave DC time to relax a bit after school and the fact that I was paying attention to them but also not only paying attention to them seemed to help. They get stressed when they are "on show" and that is how they felt if we were sitting together to read. We have also done this when in the car. I drive and DC reads. It works well but can be hard if there are words they need help with.

DC is now in high school and in honors English class. For challenging books DC will often start with an audio book and either follow along with the hard copy or work on a puzzle so that their hands are busy. Most of the time DC is able to switch to reading the book after a few chapters. The audio book eases them into it, teaches them how to pronounce all of the character's names and gets them comfortable with the story.

[Anonymous]

My ADHD son loved to read, but inside his head. We did force him to read out loud. It's extremely beneficial for reading comprehension. I also modeled a LOT, by reading aloud for years, and making it really expressive, doing all the voices, and generally being a storyteller. My kids loved that.

[Anonymous]

My adhd son does not do his daily reading homework. He reads above level. On some days, he can read for an hour on his own. On some days, he does not read anything for weeks. He does not read out loud, but he giggles when he reads and turns pages fast. I have heard him reading out loud, it is a bit tortune for him. I can't understand what he reads, and he needs to slow slow down his speech fpr me to understand clearly.

[Anonymous]

Have her read to a stuffed animal or pet for five or ten of those minutes.

[Anonymous]

Yes, force it. Your child cannot learn to become a fluent reader without frequent (3-5x/week) practice. She is also expected to have endurance for 15-20 minute academic tasks at school. If she really can’t hack it, start at 7 minutes and add a minute every few days. Take quick movement breaks at natural stopping points in the text. If you can’t set and maintain these expectations at home, it’s going to be really hard for your child’s teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, force it. Your child cannot learn to become a fluent reader without frequent (3-5x/week) practice. She is also expected to have endurance for 15-20 minute academic tasks at school. If she really can’t hack it, start at 7 minutes and add a minute every few days. Take quick movement breaks at natural stopping points in the text. If you can’t set and maintain these expectations at home, it’s going to be really hard for your child’s teacher.

this is terrible advice.

[Anonymous]

I love to read aloud, but 20 minutes is a lot even for a lot of adults, and definitely too much for a first grader. Reading aloud is more tiring than reading silently. Can you find out from the teacher more about what the goal of this assignment is? Why reading aloud v. reading silently? If they're worried about comprehension, how about if they read and then talk to you about the book? My children always had a 20 minutes a night of reading assignment in the early years, but never required to be aloud.

[Anonymous]

My ADHD DD didn't love reading out loud in 1st grade in part because she was tired at the end of the day, she wasn't a fluid reader yet, and she has super low frustration tolerance. Our routine is that she reads for 20 minutes from a book I choose that's at the appropriate reading level, and I read a different (harder) book out loud for about 10 minutes. We stuck with the routine as best we could last year. We skipped some nights, we only did 10 minutes total other nights, or we read 5 min here or there instead of doing it all at the end of the day. The point was just to keep reading and practicing. I also incorporated reading in other contexts, like at the grocery store or walking around the neighborhood. It helped her to see that reading wasn't just about sitting still and reading a book--it's everywhere and it's important! She's in 2nd grade now and it all finally clicked over the summer. She is ready much more fluently, isn't getting as frustrated, and will actually pick up a book and read to herself. I never thought she'd get there.

I should also add that having my kids read out loud to me helped me to reinforce different methods than they were being taught at school. For example, I started with phonics and teaching them out to sound out the words. They were learning different methods at school (at least at first). It also helps with reading comprehension--my kids would read out loud and then we'd discuss what they just read. I'd ask them questions, teach them how to go back to find the answers if they couldn't remember, etc.

All of this to say, reading is important and for me, it was a battle that I was willing to fight within reason.

[Anonymous]

We didn't 'force' it but did do much of what PPs have suggested, particularly breaking it up. I'd also take turns reading aloud with them (I have 2 kids with language based LDs). They'd read a paragraph and I'd read a paragraph.

Although, at first, we both read the same paragraph. When I read it, it was so DSwould understand the passage. When DSread it, it was so he could practice reading aloud. With language based LDs or with kids who have executive functioning issues, it can be difficult to read and comprehend.

[Anonymous]

20 minutes doesn't work for every kid. Do what works for you. Maybe that's you reading to him. Maybe he's just reading a few words you point out or a sentence here and there. Don't force it or it will be miserable and he won't learn anything if his brain doesn't focus like that.

[Anonymous]

Yes. The more the better with short breaks and a fidget