Complete First Readings Over Summer?

[Jessica Louise]

I would like to spread the workload out a little more evenly over the year. What would be the disadvantages of having my child complete her first reading of all schoolbooks over the summer? We may still try to read assignments twice in a school week, but, if time is limited, at least she would have been through the storyline once. Thoughts?

[enbateau]

Ya know, even I have a hard time reading a book over the summer and remembering it by the time we read it in class together during the year. I would not think this would produce the fruit you're looking for. For what it's worth, we dropped second readings of most books by the end of 2nd grade, and for some children, reading can be such a slog that it's punishing to read every line twice. If you're dealing with special needs and comprehension issues, consider an audio book she can listen to while quietly playing later in the day or the end of the week to save the mama voice. Librivox has many audio files on their website ad free.

[howiecram]

I agree with enbateau. I would use audiobooks for the second reading, IF your child needs it. In 1ST grade we team read anyway. The second reading we switched what we read. In second grade we team read together, then for the second reading it was listen to it on an audiobook. There are other ways to reduce the time spent on literature as well. You can write all the vocabulary words on a whiteboard (or piece of paper) and the answers scrambled on the other side and have your child draw a line or tell you orally what each one might mean. Before you sit down to do the discussion questions, use a highlighter and highlight the couple of answers the child will physically write. The others become simple discussion. The child's oral answers for the highlighted questions are written on the board for the child to copy. We have never been able to do the 3 chapters a week as outlined in the manual. We do the vocabulary and reading on one day and the questions the second. By the middle of 4th grade we were able to do the 3 chapters a week. This does mean that sometimes we just read 1 less book. Other times that final book gets read and discussed all orally to finish. I think a good use of summer time is to have your child read to you every.single.day for 20 min. Then 40 min can be listening to audiobooks or looking at picture books. (a good combo of both - my kids enjoyed looking/reading the science/enrichment selections from previous years).

[momgineer]

If the student is able to comprehend and remember enough to go find answers in the book, then I don’t stress over second readings. I do, however, pick some passages to do a second and third reading so they are still practicing reading out loud with expression. That might just be a page here and there though and not the whole book.

[Jessica Louise]

Thank you! I think I misunderstood what we were supposed to do. I thought that everyone read each chapter twice. Is that just in SC? I guess we were reading the chapters twice for speed and fluency. I don't think that it's necessary to read it twice to answer questions.

[howiecram]

Thank you! I think I misunderstood what we were supposed to do. I thought that everyone read each chapter twice. Is that just in SC? I guess we were reading the chapters twice for speed and fluency. I don't think that it's necessary to read it twice to answer questions.

The second readings are scheduled in the regular cores as well, I think until 3rd grade. I think many people just adapt the plans to fit the family's/child's needs. I do like momgineer's idea of just taking some of the passages/pages from the readings the second time to re-read. Ideally at that age/stage the child is reading aloud daily. Around 3rd grade if the child can answer the question we did not re-read. If he/she could not remember the question, then I would point out a few pages where the child could find the answer and I did ask for the child to read those passages out loud.

[Jessica Louise]

howiecram Thank you. That is clarifying.

[enbateau]

Agreeing with the above to select passages to read again to answer comprehension questions. We absolutely do that when we need to. Remember that in a class or cottage school setting, not every student will get a chance to read the entire selection. Also, for those families who team read, a second reading (esp as mentioned above where you switch) is a great idea. My litmus test for a single reading is that my student reads fluently with almost no missed words, good cadence and inflection, and general recall for comprehension and Enrichment/discussion questions. We revisit the text when the answer is not as complete or nuanced as I would like.

When families depart from the CM, there are often other factors that come into play. The longer you're on here and doing the material, the more confidence you will develop in doing what you know is right for your child, no matter what anyone else suggests. While we might think it's needless to read over the summer, it might be the most incredible game-changer for you. Then, you can come back here and tell us about your newfound "hack."