When I was in primary school I remember having homework but not when I was really little. Changed days. I used to finish my homework in about ten minutes and then run out to play. These days it takes ten minutes to read the instructions.
So much to my seven year old’s delight I often miss half of it out. First there is the reading book, which is boring and which he gets nothing out of. Anyway he’s read it at school already. What is the point of reading it again? He’s not a goldfish.
So we tend to skip that part. Reading is not a homework task in our house. Instead we sit down together at bedtime and he reads a book to me, a book which is write a bit more advanced than his homework book, which he finds interesting and which occasionally has a ne word for him to learn.
I don’t know any child who nags their mum to do homework but I get nagged to sit down and read with H. And if he had his way he would be reading to me all evening.
Then we have maths games which require sitting and reading instructions, locating a dice and counters and sometimes cutting out also. By that time we’re both fed up. On son’s insistence we did one this week. It involved five minutes of reading rules and about two minutes of maths.
So usually we skip his reading book and maths game. Instead we read together and go on maths websites. And son thinks he’s pulling a fast one on me!
Reading shouldn't be singled out as an activity as you rightly say. It should be like a daily routine like brushing your teeth.
ReplyDeleteI also get my 10 year old to read for 20 minutes before lights out and read to him. We talk about the characters in the book, predict whats going to happen next, discuss the implied meaning of words and say whether we like or dislike it. There's more educational value in that, as opposed to reading 10 pages and writing that he has done so, in his reading diary.
Totally agree with you. Reading, and learning should be fun.
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