Question about independent reading...

[HappyMama]

Hi all! I was wondering at what age do you let your children read silently to themselves vs. reading aloud to you? My 3rd-grader has been asking to do his readings on his own and I'm tempted to let him. I'm all about independence, lol.

Thoughts?

[Carrie]

CM would say that a child the age of 9 on up who can do his/her own readings should do them independently. We've always used that guideline with our own kiddos for history and science. Depending on which guide you are in, for example if you are in Bigger Hearts, then you could start having an 8 year old read his own science if desired. This is because the science readings in Bigger are quite short. Just make sure the retention is there.

I also started guiding my kiddos to read directly from the guide in science first in Bigger to start training them for the "I" boxes coming in Preparing Hearts. This was just me, because my kiddos could read well and were ready for more independence, and I was busy, busy, busy. So, it benefitted us both! When they turned 9, I had them take over the history readings in Bigger too.

Blessings,
Carrie

[GinainMD]

Oh no! I am so glad that I saw this. My dd has been asking, more like begging really, to read the Science and I have been telling her no! Well I guess we will give it a try tomorrow. I am so thankful for this message board. It is an education in itself.

[tnahid]

Well, this is good to know, but I don't think my oldest, who is 10, will want to read the main history on his own, since he loves it so much when I read to them! He is also doing DITHOR and history extensions with Bigger, so he would be overwhelmed doing the history reading on top of that, I think. I also read aloud the Storytime portion in Bigger to all of them as well. They just love it and are retaining so much. I don't want to end that. Yet, the science portions I will DEFINITELY have them do independently when I get the books in. Not a problem there.

So, while I know my son is older than 9, I just feel he still needs the read-alouds just as much if not more than my 8 year old. I think my 8 year old is definitely more independent!