Asking soooo many.questions as I read to them

amother

Mauve

Sun, Jul 23 2017, 8:19 pm

I have two kids aged 2.5 and 4.5. They love when I read them books but they ask a ton of questions it.gets really annoying and can take forever. I dont want to tell them no questions. Kids learn by asking and they should always know.they can ask me anything...but how am I supppsed to read to them.....

simba

Sun, Jul 23 2017, 8:30 pm

It's not about finishing the book. It's about what they are learning as they read. I know it's annoying I have that age and issue (bh) as well. Focus on why you are reading to them and realize answering their questions or at least musing with them is inline with your goal.

MagentaYenta

Sun, Jul 23 2017, 11:17 pm

jeweled wrote:

Save all questions for the end?

Neither have the skills or patience to wait at their current ages. These interruptions are all teachable moments.

amother

Mint

Mon, Jul 24 2017, 4:24 am

If you are reading at bedtime, or have only a limited amount of time/energy you can say no questions. Kids still gain a lot from spending quality time with you, even if they don't get to ask their questions.

zaq

Mon, Jul 24 2017, 5:58 am

Rejoice. You have exceptionally bright, inquisitive children who want to learn. This is a plus. Yes, it's very frustrating for a parent who lacks patience. The thing to do is to cultivate patience in yourself. As has been said, it's not about finishing the book. If you want to finish the story, you can finish reading the story after the children are asleep.

Orchid

Mon, Jul 24 2017, 6:25 am

You need to reframe. Your goal is not to "finish this Dr. Seuss book," but to interact with your child and spend time together doing something enjoyable. If you don't finish the book, or if it takes 10 minutes longer, well, that just gives you more opportunity to accomplish what you set out doing by reading the book in the first place.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Jul 24 2017, 11:23 am

Questions are healthy!

It shows that they are attentive, engaged, and following the story with you. They are understanding the book, and wanting to get deeper into it.

Letting them interrupt and question will help build strong reading skills. Critical reading is crucial for school work, and will help them right up through college.

Right now you are building a stong foundation, don't squash that just to save yourself a few extra minutes of the day! This time is priceless, and will pay for itself a million times over.

As DD got older, we did the same thing with videos. We would pause it 100 times, becasue she always wanted more explanation on the plot, character developement, motivations, emotions, etc.

She's a brilliant short story writer now, and getting straight A's in English and composition.

amother

Mistyrose

Mon, Jul 24 2017, 11:34 am

I also get annoyed by constant interrupts with either questions or comments, and I know it is mostly my problem and not the kids. To make it more manageable for me, depending on the age, I make them wait till the end of the page or the end of the sentence. I either point to the words as I am reading or give a hand motion for them to know they can ask now. If they interrupt, I just keep reminding that they have to wait till I finish my sentence.

Also maybe consider the types of books you are reading. Maybe consider including more interactive books with less words on the page leaving them to ask more questions. Which will help with your expectations.

lfab

Mon, Jul 24 2017, 11:42 am

What's the bigger problem here; that it's annoying to constantly be interrupted by questions, or that the questions are making the reading take too long. If it's the former and it's frustrating to you but you have the time then leave things as they are and let them ask their questions (so long as it's relevant to the book). If it's simply taking too long and you don't have that much time to sit and read with them try using a timer. If you only have 15 minutes (say it's right before bed and you want to make sure they're in at the right time) set the timer for 15 minutes. Let them know ahead of time that when the timer beeps storytime is over. Place a bookmark to mark where you left off and pick up at that point the next time you read. This gives them the freedom to ask as many questions as they want, but you don't need to worry that reading a book will take 45 minutes.

amother

Gray

Mon, Jul 24 2017, 11:48 am

Having kids wait til the end of the page is not the end of the world. However, it is very nourishing to their developing psyches to not have to ''hold it in'' in some areas of their little life. And reading a book is a benign low-risk area where it might be ok to allow them to ask when their impulse dictates. They have plenty of ''holding it in'' in school. It's good for them to have places where their impulses of curiosity are honored over that of the adult's need for some sort of order.

amother

Sienna

Mon, Jul 24 2017, 2:27 pm

We have my 4 year old wait until the end of the page. This usually works well, because it's not too long for her to wait, but let's me get through the page at least!

mame1

Mon, Jul 24 2017, 3:06 pm

I'm supposed to tell you how to read to your kids without interruption? Mah pitom?

Keep reading and keep answering their questions.

gp2.0

Mon, Jul 24 2017, 3:23 pm

Yeah I'm in the camp of making kids wait until the end of the page. They're asking questions because they're excited and engaged, not because they actually need answers...the questions go like this:

Me: once upon a time there was a rabbit-
Child: what kind of rabbit? What was his name? Where is he going?
Me: let's keep reading and we'll find out. Once upon a time there was a rabbit. His name was Mopsy and he was-
Child: why was his name mopsy? And what color is he?

And so on...making kids wait until the end of the page isn't the end of the world lol.