Sustained Silent Reading

I listened to hours of homeschool conference lectures last week and came away with a few gems. One of them was encouragement to implement SSR in our homeschool. 

This is not a new concept to our family. I did not feel a strong need to set aside time when my oldest daughters were schooling at home. They naturally gravitated toward reading. My third daughter, however, needed some encouragement. I remember it being suggested that she read for a set time each day. I did set the timer and she read. With the four youngest children, I implemented a family time that we all sat and read. The timer was set and the littlest ones could go play quietly when it went off at the ten minute mark. The older ones could read for as long as 30 minutes if they wished to. At this time, my youngest was still in diapers and his reading was a basket of board books. He was totally game for it! He loved that we all sat together in the same room at the same time. And he loved his books. 

2004

Laura Berquist, author of Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum, talked at our local homeschool conference last weekend about how SSR looks in her home. She uses reading material that is not included in their studies. She also chooses the books. Some school programs that I read about allow the students their choice. I think it is different in homeschools because our students generally have abundant material and time for additional free reading if they wish. That may not always be the case in every school setting. Laura had an interesting reason for choosing her child's SSR reading books. As her children get older, this gives her the opportunity to introduce material to her child that he might not readily choose on his own. As the expectation that mom is going to assign the book is already there, it lowers the resistance. She did tell of a son who agonized over his first day of reading an assigned Sherlock Holmes book. The next day she had her son read a different Sherlock Holmes story and not only did he not complain, he was so excited to finish the story that he read it on his own time. 

We are only one week in to our SSR time and I would say it is a resounding success! My boys read- but they don't read. If they want to learn about dogs, they will sit for hours poring over a dog encyclopedia. If they want a story, they prefer me to read it or an audio book. They look at a full page of print and groan. So... I assigned each boy a book on Monday. I set the timer for 10 minutes. And we read. I sat with them too, and I am loving it more than they are. Ten whole minutes to read in peace and quiet! One of things that I read about that causes SSR to not succeed in classrooms is when the teacher does not participate but tries to supervise or use the time to get something else done.  

2005

Why I say it is a success: When I say it is time, the boys sit down and are happy to read! (after the first two days- so for three out of the five days) For Paul, I chose a book from a series that his dad read to him when he was much younger. With his reading difficulties, the familiarity of the book is nice for him. Paul read one whole book in our five days of SSR. Mark read two and a half easy chapter books. And James finished two early science readers and one easy reader mystery book (he actually finished the mystery on his own). When we finish each session, I casually ask the boys to share what they read. If they hated this, I would not worry about it, but they seem very happy to share. I like it because it lets me know that the books I chose for them are at a level that is comfortable for them to read. 

We did all of this in just 10 minutes a day! I plan to attempt two sessions on a few days next week. My goal is to make our SSR time 20 minutes a day for at least one session, and try to schedule an extra session or two a week. 

I am encouraged by our success and spent a little time this week at the library scouring the shelves for books that I think the boys will have fun reading. 

The Read Aloud Handbook On SSR

*Amending this to say that I have a reading basket for the boys to choose from, but am open to them choosing their own books too!