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Today I am sharing some ideas for kids daily reading by showing you a sample of what we read at night.  Reading at night for us typically consists of Tim reading me a couple of books, and then my husband or I read Tim a book or two. This time is approximately 15-30 minutes. We do keep reading time flexible. There are nights that we just read aloud to Tim or that he just reads to us.  On some nights we have time and energy for a longer reading time, while on other nights reading time is shorter.

Here is what Tim read to me last night:

First Things by Margaret McAlister and At the Toyshop by Kerri Lane were Ebay finds.  They are Rigby books which is a publisher often used by teachers to teach guided reading in the classroom.  Rigby books are expensive and hard to find online, but they are excellent for beginner readers particularly in Kindergarten and First grade. Just right books for beginner readers at this level can be limited and hard to find in the library.  Find out your child’s reading level from your child’s classroom teacher and check out Ebay for Rigby books for sale.  Perhaps your child’s classroom has extra Rigby books that you could borrow to read at home with your child.  If your child’s classroom teacher uses these books for guided reading, you may even ask to borrow the books that your child has already read to practice fluency.

Pig’s Tall Hat by Henry Hart was a freebie that I received with the Highlights magazine.  I like that this book has some questions on the last page to act as a guide in having a book discussion with your child. Some of the questions are: What does Pig need to have before baking the cupcakes? How do you think Pig feels at the end of the story? Why? What do you need to do certain jobs at home? Think of something that you cooked or would like to cook with your family. How is it the same at what Pig cooked? How is it different?

First Things and At the Toyshop are different levels and books in which Tim does not need to sound out any words.  He has been practicing his reading fluency or ability to read without stopping between words. To focus on just reading fluency, it can be helpful to select books without tricky words or books that have already been read before.  With reading fluency, I often select books at a couple of different levels.  For example, if you child is reading at an instructional D in the classroom, I might select books at A, B, and C to practice for fluency work.

Here is what I read to Tim last night:

This is the book that Tim picked out during library time at school last week.  It is actually a book that his Kindergarten teacher read aloud to him last year as part of the Tools of the Mind Curriculum. He really got into the Magic Tree House books last year. He loved this book so much that he wanted to hear it again.  It is great to reread stories. Rereading favorite stories can help kids become familiar with the structure of stories and notice new things in the story.  We read about two or three chapters.  When I read aloud to him, we often stop to talk about what is happening in this book, make predictions, ask questions and share thoughts about the story.  With this book, I had Tim tell me about what was happening in the story after each chapter.

What does your kids daily reading time look like? What are your favorite books to read aloud to your child? Do you have any questions about kids daily reading? Please feel free to leave a comment in the comments section or contact me via email if you have any specific questions!