Books reading

[Anonymous]

I don't think I have ever read to my kid since he was 5. Since he can read, I just buy a few books every year sitting at home for him to read when he wants. I have subscribed to some kid magazine on and off over the past year, and I just hand them to him. I bought him a greek mythology book back in October when teacher shared that they were teaching that topic. Now I get him an American history book because teacher shares that they are teaching American history. They are all kids friendly age appropriate books and he is 10. He never asks me to buy these books, but I just buy and hand him the books. I expect that he will read them whenever he wants or needs to. Is it what other parents are doing? Am I supposed to read to him or keep him company when he reads?

[Anonymous]

It’s a little late for you but you missed out on reading with your child at 5 years old. Unless he has the autistic trait that my niece has where she could ready college textbooks at three years old, 5 year olds have a lot of words they don’t know. He could have used some help with the big words.

I find it a little sad that you would buy some books and toss them his way so he could read them or not. Reading with your child, especially when they have a real interest in something is enjoyable for both of you. You could have read about Greek Mythology together and discussed which one was your favorite and why. He would do the same. It’s kind of lonely for a five year old to read something alone and not get to talk about it.

[Anonymous]

i still read to my kids every night and they are 12 and 8.

they also every night before falling asleep to themselves.

My rule is if they will reread the book, I wil purchase it. For other series books that they fly through, we use the library.

They read a couple chapter books a weeks.

[Anonymous]

Read to him. It isn’t too late. Get some good chapter books, maybe something he wouldn’t pick to read himself, to expose him to different literature. Read to him every night for as long as he will let you and enjoys it. I read to my 9 and 14 yr old (separately) every night. We’be read so many amazing books together. My oldest got too busy with school work and I stopped reading to her around 15

[Anonymous]

Mine's almost 9 and I randomly grabbed a picture book we had never read together (Runaway Bunny) and read it to him while he was doing something else. He loved it!

[Anonymous]

It's nice reading to kids even well after they can read themselves. Around that age I read Ghost by Jason Reynolds each night to DCs and it was a hit - interesting, different than their usual, and easy to read out loud (not all books are).

[Anonymous]

My 8 year old started fighting us a bit on reading to her every night, mostly because she enjoys reading to herself so much that reading to her often means interrupting her from reading so we can read to her and then she returns to reading to herself. So we stopped the nightly reading this year. BUT we actually still read together as a family -- we all sit on the couch and read for 30 minutes or so before she goes to bed. We cuddle under blankets when it's cold.

Sometimes she still asks us to read to her, when she's tired or sick. I have happy to do it, I love reading to her.

[Anonymous]

My older child stopped let me read to him soon after became a proficient reader at age 7. My younger kid is 11 and reads a ton on her own, but we also still read together.

As for obtaining books, we mostly use the library but also used book stores/library book sales. We go together so the kids can browse and choose books they find interesting. I don’t just buy a book randomly and give it to my kid unless it’s the type of book I know they’d enjoy.

[Anonymous]

I’m still reading to my second grader, and she usually keeps reading to herself for a while after I leave the room. I’m also finding her reading material based on what she enjoys. What does your child enjoy reading?

[Anonymous]

This is OP. I think my child can read better than I do even though I may know more vocabularies than him. English is my first language, and I mispronounce a lot of words. At home, he normally reads fiction chapter books, and they are like 150- 200 plus pages. At school library, he mostly checks out graphic comic books. He sometimes reads the kid magazine that I have subscribed. I bought him a dictionary, well I don't know if he uses it or not. Grandparents never read books to me growing up. DH, a native speaker, is supposed to take over the task reading to him because he can do a better than I do. He does not want to do it, so I was the main one reading to him when he was little until I found out that he could read chapter books by himself at age 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I think my child can read better than I do even though I may know more vocabularies than him. English is notmy first language, and I mispronounce a lot of words. At home, he normally reads fiction chapter books, and they are like 150- 200 plus pages. At school library, he mostly checks out graphic comic books. He sometimes reads the kid magazine that I have subscribed. I bought him a dictionary, well I don't know if he uses it or not. Grandparents never read books to me growing up. DH, a native speaker, is supposed to take over the task reading to him because he can do a better than I do. He does not want to do it, so I was the main one reading to him when he was little until I found out that he could read chapter books by himself at age 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I think my child can read better than I do even though I may know more vocabularies than him. English is my first language, and I mispronounce a lot of words. At home, he normally reads fiction chapter books, and they are like 150- 200 plus pages. At school library, he mostly checks out graphic comic books. He sometimes reads the kid magazine that I have subscribed. I bought him a dictionary, well I don't know if he uses it or not. Grandparents never read books to me growing up. DH, a native speaker, is supposed to take over the task reading to him because he can do a better than I do. He does not want to do it, so I was the main one reading to him when he was little until I found out that he could read chapter books by himself at age 5.

Read some funny graphic books with him. Graphic books are more fun to read together than chapter books and it’s much more fun to laugh together.

[Anonymous]

Listen to audio books together instead.

[Anonymous]

OP, just want to send a big hug your way. It sounds like you've already done better than the grandparents. It's definitely not too late. And maybe you can just ask your child, in a quiet moment when no one is feeling stressed or pressured, whether he would like to read a book with you some time. Get library books together - you can both go and browse for a few minutes, and DO NOT JUDGE anything he picks. It will be good for him see you making a habit of reading a physical book (in any language), and you will learn about his current interests. I promise you will love the time together.