SK> I do understand what you're saying about a "five year old...when they
 SK> begin to fly..." I've seen that occur in my own daughter. She cannot
 SK> read as fast orally as she can silently (she is 
 SK> seven, soon eight, going
 SK> into third grade). When she does her oral reading, which last year she
 SK> was assigned every night (often she had her free choice of what to
 SK> read), I notice that when the story gets moving along she will try to
 SK> pick up the speed of her reading (probably because 
 SK> she wants to see what
As you point out, she reads faster silently - comprehension goes much higher 
during silent reading, the mind can understand faster than the lips can 
articulate.
 
Oral reading is great when a child has pre-read the story and has practiced 
reading. But for comprehension, silent reading is much better. Even the 
child's lips should be monitored for movement during silent reading as it 
will slow the comprehension down.
 
When I was in a regular classroom, I used oral reading to help those students 
learning English, seems to help them catch the flow of the language and 
obtain meaning somehow. Quite often I would read most of the text, (which I 
had read beforehand), and call on those who really wanted to read orally. 
--- Maximus 2.02
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