Reading Responsibilities: Who should read, and should it be aloud or silent?

Reading Responsibilities: Who should read, and should it be aloud or silent?

You’ve received your order from Heart of Dakota (HOD) and you’ve had your ‘box day!’ Opening your HOD guides, you see lots of boxes of plans with different books to be read. How organized! Pretty easy to follow, really – just a two page spread for each guide. You are feeling good about this. Except, who should do the reading? If your child reads, should the reading be aloud or silent? You are now wondering about reading responsibilities. This is a good thing to ponder!

In your older child’s guide, you see little letters in the top right corners of the boxes of plans. You flip to your Introduction of your guide. Ahhh. ‘T’ means teacher-directed, ‘S’ means semi-independent, and ‘I’ means independent. That is helpful. Now you know – in general – who is probably supposed to do the reading for each box of plans. Since ‘T’ is teacher-directed, you are usually responsible for the reading. Since ‘S’ is semi-independent, you both have a part to do. The plans themselves usually make clear who does what, but the goal overall is to share the work. Finally, since ‘I’ is independent, the child is usually supposed to do the reading.

You notice your younger guides’ plans do not have the letters ‘T,’ ‘S,’ or ‘I.’ This is because children are just learning to read or are beginning readers. So, in Little Hands to Heaven (LHTH) through Bigger Hearts for His Glory (BHFHG), the parent reads everything aloud. (The readings are short, so this is not hard to do.) Children only read aloud the Emerging Reader’s Set, and they only do that when they are ready.

How is the reading supposed to be done?

There are two ways to read – out loud and silently in your head. As I already mentioned, all the reading in LHTH through BHFHG is meant to be read aloud by the parent (other than the Emerging Reader’s Set, which is read aloud by the child.)

In Preparing Hearts for His Glory (PHFHG), children take on new reading responsibilities. Children read (silently in their heads) the Independent History Study box and the Science Exploration box. PHFHG’s Bible Study box has specific instructions about reading responsibilities. Sometimes the parent does the reading and sometimes the student does the reading. The parent retains most of the rest of the reading.

In Creation to Christ (CTC), the student is still responsible for silently reading the Independent History Study and the Science Exploration resources. However, in CTC, the student is also responsible for silently reading the Reading About History and the Bible Quiet Time resources. These are new reading responsibilities. The parent still reads aloud the Storytime and the Bible Study resources, as well as other things. So, a nice balance is maintained.

In PHFHG and CTC, the daily plans will usually say the words “read aloud” if something is to be read aloud. If the daily plans just say “read,” the reading is usually to be done silently. The daily plans make clear who is doing the reading, either through the specific directions or through the ‘T,’ ‘S,’ and ‘I’ letters. In general, if a ‘T’ box says “read aloud,” the parent reads the book aloud to the student. If an ‘I’ box says “read pages __ to __,” the student reads the book silently in his/her head. For ‘S’ boxes, the plans usually give specific instructions for who is doing the reading and how the reading is to be done.

How do students’ reading responsibilities change starting in Resurrection to Reformation and through 12th Grade?

The target age range for Resurrection to Reformation (RTR) is 10-12 years old. According to Charlotte Mason, children at the age of 9 or shortly after are to be responsible for reading across all subject areas. So, in RTR, Storytime is history-focused and becomes a ‘T/I’ box. Either the teacher reads Storytime aloud, or the student reads Storytime silently. The choice is up to you!

RTR’s Devotional Bible Study is a ‘T’ box. So, the parent would usually read this box aloud. However, the plans do not say “read aloud.” This is to recognize the reading responsibilities 10-year-olds are ready for are different than those 11 or 12-year-olds might be ready for.

Students in RTR have the directions for all ‘I’ and most ‘S’ plans written directly to them. ‘T’ plans are still written to parents. This shows who is responsible for the reading. You can assume students are to silently read ‘I’ and ‘S’ boxes and parents are to read aloud ‘T’ boxes, unless specific directions say otherwise. Specific directions should always be followed over general ones. This pattern continues all the way through 12th grade, with students gradually taking on new and more in-depth reading responsibilities with every guide.

Why does it matter who does the reading and how it is to be done?

When children are younger, they need their parents to read aloud everything. They cannot read! As children reach age 9 or 10, they need to gradually begin to take on more reading responsibilities by reading silently. Middle school students need to take on more reading responsibilities, and high school students still more. But, why? Does it really matter who does the reading and how it is done? Yes it does, on both accounts!

Young children need to learn to read by reading aloud to us as parents. Otherwise, we have no idea if they are reading at all. As children exit the beginning reading stage and enter the independent reading stage, their reading responsibilities in school should reflect this. PHFHG plans for this stage beautifully, and CTC builds upon it.

Middle school children have passed the age of 9. They are age 10 or older, and they need to be doing the bulk of the reading for all school subjects silently in their heads. Why? Well, for one thing the reading is longer. Reading everything aloud would take – quite literally – all day. Also, when children (or parents) read aloud, we must constantly think how we sound. We must think if we are reading with the right tone, the right pacing, the right enunciation, the right pronunciation – thinking about how we sound interferes with thinking about what we are reading. It interferes with comprehension.

According to Charlotte Mason, when children read their minds are like cameras capturing proper images of words.

According to Charlotte Mason, our eyes are like cameras, capturing pictures of how words ‘look.’ Students who read silently have the book in hand and have the book all to themselves. Not having to share a book means students are able to carefully pay attention to how the words ‘look.’ Students reading silently are constantly seeing words spelled right. This impacts their spelling in their own writing; it improves their spelling because they can see when a word ‘looks right’ when they write it.

For example, a student who reads silently a history book about Charlemagne will have captured a picture of the proper spelling of “Charlemagne” numerous times. This student will more than likely spell Charlemagne right in a written narration. In contrast, a student who has read aloud the book about Charlemagne has shared the book with someone looking on. This student has also had much think about while reading (i.e. proper tone, pacing, etc.). This student may or may not have captured the image of “Charlemagne” properly. Finally, we have the student who did not read at all because a parent or older sibling did the reading for them. This student has the poorest chance of spelling “Charlemagne” properly.

(I bet after reading this silently yourself, you have a good chance of spelling “Charlemagne” right too! Maybe you read a lot about Charlemagne prior to reading about Charlemagne here. Your ‘camera’ captured “Charlemagne” right long ago, and that proper image ‘stuck.’ Great!)

Heart of Dakota guides plan for proper reading responsibilities already!

The good news is Heart of Dakota guides already plan for a good balance of proper reading responsibilities! Each guide has a target age range, and reading responsibilities match those ages. Students who progress from one HOD guide up to another will gradually and successfully build their reading skills. They will not be surprised by the reading responsibilities of upper middle school and high school. All we have to do as homeschool moms and students is follow each guide’s plans for who is to do the reading and for whether that reading is to be done aloud or silently.

If you love to read aloud as a parent, don’t be dismayed! You will always have things to read aloud in HOD if you wish! What you read will just mature as your children do! Sometimes it may be a Biblical worldview read aloud. Other times it may be a devotional read aloud. Still other times it may be a hymn study, a poetry study, a geography study, a Bible study, a writing program with classical literature, or a history Storytime read aloud.

If your child has special needs, you may need to shift reading responsibilities accordingly. Try to share them and expect the most you can without overwhelming your child. If you use audios, be sure to have your child following along. Remember, the mind is like a camera! Following along with audios does much to improve reading comprehension and spelling for children with special needs – but only if the student is following along in the book.

In Christ,

Julie

P.S.:

Be sure you follow the reading responsibilities noted in Drawn into the Heart of Reading (DITHOR) as well. These reading responsibilities are clearly noted in the plans, and they change as children mature. As reading aloud is a reading skill to be learned, students read aloud (at least a page or two) all the way through level 6/7/8. The Qualities of Good Reading teacher and student lists in the Appendix of DITHOR further help with teaching the skill of reading aloud.