reading and younger kids...

ok- so my oldest son is in 1st grade. He's still a newish reader. he's just not super into it, and i'm trying my best. He's on grade level though SOO I have him read at night instead of me reading. BUT my younger son is 4- he wants to be involved, too... but doesn't have the patience for my older son's slower reading. so after a few minutes, he starts moving around, making noise, etc to distract my older son. or he wants to see the pictures- but i also have to be able to see to help my older son wit any words he needs help with. my older son will on purpose move away so DS 2 can't see the pictures... and it just becomes this whole whiny battle every night. Tonight i actually stopped my older son after 2 pages and said " I can't do this tonight- no book".
my DH will sometimes read with my younger son while i read with my older son.... but we're doing renovations to our house, so a lot of times at night DH is talking to the contractor, or other things we need to keep that going.
how does everybody else handle this kind of thing?? putting DS 2 to bed earlier doesn't work, because both of their rooms are right off of our living room, and right next to each other. so he hears that we're still up and just keeps coming out anyway. so its easier to just put them to bed at the same time.

reading and younger kids...

Can you give your younger DS an activity bin with some books and activities that he only has access to during this reading time so he will engage with those items. Also, I would tell your younger DS and then of coarse follow through that you have a reading time just you two and that your older DS needs his reading time, maybe even show him a clock or Buzzer and say ok when the buzzer goes off it will be your turn to read

Message edited 3/21/2018 9:40:56 PM.

Re: reading and younger kids...

Do reading a story at a different time... not a bedtime routine.

I have each kid read to me right after dinner for about 15 minutes and I read the story at bedtime (Harry Potter or another above their reading level book). I have a 2 year old who just can’t sit through a chapter book, so I give her an iPad for the 15 minutes.

reading and younger kids...

I have my 6yo read to me earlier in the evening or afternoon. At bedtime we read to them. If dh is there, we each read them a book separately. If it's just one of us we read to them together. This way, before bed they can relax and enjoy being read to. Dd is a very new reader too so I'm not sure at what point we'll have her read to us before bed.

Re: reading and younger kids...

I hear you. That was me a few years ago. My boys are 2 years apart. What we do is take turns reading. I read one side of the book with the younger DS (even though he couldn't read then I'd help him) and the older DS who was learning read the other page.
Now my older son is in 3rd grade and younger in 1st so I read with my younger DS and my older DS reads on his own in his room. After the 1st grader goes to sleep and the 3rd grader can stay up a little longer to read to himself.

Re: reading and younger kids...

If they are reading picture books maybe you can tell your older one to pretend he is the teacher and after he reads the page hold the book out to show the pictures. My girls love playing school and acting like teachers.

Good luck

Re: reading and younger kids...

My kids are 3 years apart and I had the same problem. Initially I would read a book to both of them in my younger kids room. Then we would say good night to him then go to my older kids room where she would read to me. Eventually she was able to read short board books to my younger kid with enough fluency for him to attend to the story. Now she is in 2nd grade and she can read much longer/more challenging books to him. We still have separate reading time for her because she is now reading chapter books that he is just not interested in.

Re: reading and younger kids...

I'm in a similar boat. DS is almost 8 and in 2nd grade. DD is 5 and in Pre-K. DD does not have the ability to sit and listen to chapter books, she can't follow the story with the monotone reading either. I let her play in her room while DS reads. He's learned to not be distracted over time.

reading and younger kids...

Thanks, everybody!! I like the idea of having DS 1 do his reading earlier in the evening, and then me being the one to read at bedtime. i'm gonna try that for awhile and see how that goes. He has to log 30 minutes a day- but it can be me reading, or him. so he can do his 15/20 minutes after school and i can do 15 minutes at bedtime.