How old do you read bedtime stories to your kids? - Page 2

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

That's so sad that someone laughed at her. I bet that little kid doesn't have anyone who reads to them at bedtime, which is also sad.

FWIW, we plan on doing read alouds as long as we can. Heck, DH and I still read to one another sometimes. When I was in grad school, I took a children's lit class and the prof started every night reading to us. After working hard all day, it was so relaxing and peaceful.

Also check out Jim Trelease's REad Aloud Handbook. So many good read alouds, and good reason's for reading aloud

[EllyMayMomma]

So sad that she was teased over this.

I read to our kids - DD 16, DS 11, DS 7 AND DH every night. We have read all the Harry Potters, Little House, CS Lewis, Twilight, Animorphs and now a vampire love story series that has a lot of action - I edit out the 'mushy' stuff and all of them love it. We have done some of the older kids books - Nancy Drew, Trixi Belding, The Bobsey Twins, books off reading lists and, of course, the Bible. We are always looking for new series books to start. With the adult books, I read them to myself ahead of the family so I will know where to cut or edit. I can not imagine not reading to the family.

FWIW DD made 36 on her practice ACT in English and both boys score WAY advanced on reading comprehension and vocabulary.

[dawncayden]

Originally Posted by vbactivist

Also check out Jim Trelease's REad Aloud Handbook. So many good read alouds, and good reason's for reading aloud

Great book!
He says to read to your kids until they tell you to stop, which is hopefully never Or once they are well into their teens. When you read to kids out loud it helps with their reading to themselves...

I was really sad to hear that a 4 year and 7 year old siblings that live near us aren't being read to. The 7 year old says there just isn't time for that anymore, with a sigh and a 'oh well, mom and dad are busy'. She reads to her younger brother though...but it is still so sad to hear this.

[SubliminalDarkness]

I think I stopped reading to DS1 when he was close to 6. At that point, he could read chapter books to himself, and DS2 was super SUPER high maintenance and I couldn't ever put him down, or really even take a break from nursing. I hated to have to cut DS1 off, but I really didn't have much of a choice.

[mamadelbosque]

My DS1 is still young (3.5) so obviously we're still reading bedtime stories... but my dad read aloud to us at bedtime for a LONG time... I bet he didn't really stop till I was 11 or 12 and my brother was 13 or 14. Maybe not even then... but he read boks aloud - Dune, Chronicles of Narnia, Lord othe Rings, etc to us not just bedtime stories. We read each of those series at least 3x all the way through. Along with other books (The Tracker/The Search by some tracker guy... they were awesome, The Education of Little Tree, etc). Honestly, I can't wait for the boys to get old enough to really start 'following' those sorts of books so I can stop reading Dr Suess every night

[cappuccinosmom]

My dad was still reading to us when I was 10-12. It kind of petered out due to stressful life circumstances in later years.

Now he reads to my boys and sometimes I cuddle up in the lower bunk and listen too.

[kalimay]

I still read to my 8 year old at bedtime.
I loved this article about a father daughter reading streak.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/fashion/21GenB.html

[nolonger]

I read to ElderSon until he was thirteen. I think I went about as long with dd, but it might have been a bit longer.

[monkeysmommy]

My dd is 8 and we have no plans to discontinue bedtime stories any time in the near future. I enjoy it myself. We are currently reading through the Little House series and we are on "The Long Winter." I read these as a child but I don't remember them so it is like enjoying them all over again. They are so educational and so stimulating for dd's pretend play. We have read aloud the whole Harry Potter series, all the Ramona books, the Narnia chronicles, and many more books that I have enjoyed. I look forward to bedtime stories as much as dd does!

My mom read to me at bedtime until I was about 10, and she enjoyed it too. The reason she stopped was by then I had so much homework that I was often still doing it when she went to bed.

In high school, I read out loud to my boyfriend. (sometimes over the phone, much to the annoyance of my parents!) It was a wonderful way to enjoy a book together. I like being really dramatic and using different voices for all the characters.

[redpajama]

My oldest is 5.5, and I imagine we'll be reading together for a very long time. We don't read absolutely every night--if we read, what we read, and who does the reading changes night-by-night. If the kids are in bed on the early side, I read a chapter of Harry Potter to them. If not, my husband reads a story book to them. Sometimes, after I finish HP (my daughter, 3.75, never lasts for more than 10 minutes), my 5.5-year-old reads a book or two to me, depending on how late it is.

I really enjoy reading to them, and I know they love it, too. I also read to them on longer car trips, while my husband drives. (Before we had kids, I often read to *him* on long car trips, while he drove.) I can see that as the kids get older, we may share the job of "reader" with them, but I hope that we'll be reading aloud together, at least now and then, for a very, very long time.

[karne]

Just finished reading to my almost 12 y/0 before bed. It's lovely.

[andreac]

My 7.5yo DS is just starting to prefer reading to himself at bedtime. After hardly reading at all this summer (to himself, we always read to him) he got hooked by the last Harry Potter and wouldn't put it down. He's moved on to the Percy Jackson series and is really enjoying reading by himself. It's been gradual, at first I would read a bit to him, then he would read a bit to me, but then he started to prefer NOT reading aloud. We still ask every night if he wants us to read, but he often doesn't. So his dad or I bring OUR books and read in his bed side-by-side. This way, we are available if he has a question and still get to snuggle up for a bit before bed.

[chelsmm]

The last book I remember my dad reading to me was "Watership Down". Definitely not a little kid book. I think I must have been at least 10 or 11. I always enjoyed our bedtime stories. We didn't live together, but whenever I would stay at his house he would read to me. I plan on reading to my children at bedtime (and whenever they want) as long as they will listen.

[ollyoxenfree]

We had family readalouds when the kids were well past 8 y.o. They are teens now and we don't read together anymore, but I think the problem isn't age really. We are all such voracious readers and impatient for "what happens next". We got to the point that when a book was started together, someone would pick it up on their own to read a few pages ahead - often finishing it on their own. I'm not interested in policing reading, so our readalouds fell by the wayside. Personally, I still enjoy listening to readalouds.

[littlewing]

I still read to my 8 year old, and it's something we both look forward to each night.

Since we homeschool, I try to focus more on quality literature for our read-alouds. We just finished the first Lemony Snicket, we're reading The Bridge to Terabithia now, and Where the Red Fern Grows is on deck. He also reads a 'fun' book of his choosing each night (currently an Indiana Jones reader) and listens to a book on tape after lights out.

As a bonus, I'm reading books that I missed out on as a kid - love that! I had never read the Little House series, but we read through them all last year and it's hard to say who enjoyed them more.

[ChetMC]

My parents read to me a lot as a preschooler, but I'm sure that they stopped around the time I could to read myself. The last book I remember my mom reading to me was Anne of Green Gables when I was six. My grade two teacher read a lot of novels to the class, but from grade three on my teachers didn't read out loud regularly.

Like others here, I read chapter books to our girls (5 and 6) at bedtime, and I try to make it quality literature. I want to enjoy reading it myself and I cringe at Magic Treehouse and Rainbow Fairies. Our girls read those themselves.

I expect that we'll continue reading aloud as long as the kids want to listen. I often read aloud to DH.

I'm not under the impression that reading aloud is a common form of entertainment for many families though. To most people, when you outgrow Goodnight Moon you've outgrown bedtime stories.

[mama1803]

Originally Posted by 4Marmalade

My ds will be 8 soon and we still read nightly to him. I don't see us stopping anytime soon. He even listens to stories that we read to his younger siblings. After we read to him, he continues to read his own book in bed until lights out.

Exactly the same thing at our house with my soon-to-be 8 year old ds.