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Hello everyone! My dd8 is doing beautifully with Beyond this year. Finally it seems as if things are coming together for her. She is using the ERs and is doing well and never complains and always looks forward to reading to me. But the ERs, and other school related reading, are the only reading she does. She never spontaneously picks up a book to read. She doesn't seem to be interested in reading other things either ie signs, cereal boxes etc. Just not sure if this is ok or if she should be reading more on her own like should I assign silent reading. Am I worrying needlessly? TIA

My DD was the same way. (Still is a times.) I'll list some suggestions I was told.

Start reading a book to her, then have some reason for an interruption at an exciting time. When she asks for more, tell her she is welcome to read it to herself or to you while you complete the task.

Take her to the library and let her pick out any book that looks good to her.

Get a magazine subscription that will really interest her. Then when it comes in the mail, she'll have to read it on her own if she wants to know what is in it.

Assign a quiet reading time of the day.

When your DD says she's bored or doesn't know what to do, send her to read for a few minutes.

If any of her friends enjoy reading, have them suggest a book that they've enjoyed then they can discuss the book the next time they talk.

For our DD, we used almost all of the above. So far she hasn't been able to read at the level of some of her friends, so I didn't want to discourage her by having her try to read books that were too tough for her. Though I did remind her that her friends became good readers because they practiced. Hope that helps.

Thanks Crystal. That does help. I'll definitely try some of these suggestions. She does love to be read too and I've tried to comply but honestly I guess I was hoping for a bit more independence on her part at this point. Her sister who is 7 reads everything at a glance where she has to still sound out a bit so maybe that has something to do with it. Now to find a really great book that she just can't get enough of.

My 7 year old son never did this either. Then, one day, he realized that reading at night extended his bedtime. Now he is a voracious reader and will read constantly. I have to tell him to go to bed each night. As a matter of fact, I just tucked him in about 2 minutes ago (10pm EST) and he started reading at 8pm. I had to force him to stop! LOL

Rebecca, I can't wait until I have that problem . Maybe I'll allow them to look at books in bed and see what happens.

My little guy has an older brother who has been reading at night for years now. Younger ds has wanted to do it for some time, but I told him I wouldn't let him until he was reading chapter books. One day, he picked up a MTH book and wouldn't put it down. That night, I let him read it in bed. He is now going through the series at the speed of about one book a night (sometimes 2 nights for one book). He refuses to switch series, so we shall see how it goes once he finishes all the MTH books. I do see a big difference in his reading abilities overall, though, now that he is also reading on his own at night.

Gina,

There are such good suggestions in this thread! We also allow our kiddos to read at bedtime, extending their bedtime an hour or more to allow reading in their beds, hoewever they must be reading (not playing or creating or visiting etc.)! All 3 of our readers are all voracious readers and beg for more at night.

Another thing you can do to encourage more independence in reading, is to get an audio book on CD (or even on tape) that is more chapter book style length (that is near to or slightly above the reading level that your daughter can also read on her own). Then, get the book too and have your daughter follow along with the audio reading a chapter a night to extend her bedtime a bit and get in the reading habit at bedtime. We have our kiddos wear headphones so as not to disturb one another when listening. This is a great way to ease into free time reading as a nightly/daily habit.

Blessings,
Carrie