Our daughter learned to read at 5 and by 5.5 was reading at a second grade level. Now at 8, she reads on a fifth to sixth grade level. While this is great for two bibliophiles, there are some downsides. One of our biggest problems, early on was emotional level vs comprehension. Sure she could read Captain Underpants, one of her all time favorite series but did I want her to. If we gave her age appropriate books she was bored and with level appropriate books, she was confused, scared and sometimes still bored. One thing we did was to take turns reading chapters with her and explaining when needed. Our local children’s librarian introduced us to The Magic Treehouse Series and Amelia Bedelia. But our best find was a former school librarian turned bookseller. She helped us with great suggestions of old and new favorites, like Captain Underpants, Ramona, The Indian in the Cupboard and The Girls to the Rescue series. Little by little we have introduced new titles and genres with more success than failure. Because of Winn Dixie, was boring but Ann McCaffrey’s If Wishes Were Horses and Charlotte’s Web were great.
In today’s society kids are much more worldly than a generation ago but they still posses an innocence that shapes their thinking. Some of the hardest choices are when to introduce books with topics like death, poverty, racism and the like. Even though we discuss these topics, books have a way of making it real. I ask myself and my daughter the critical questions (Critical Questions) in order to help us understand what she is reading. Knowing what the author’s perspective and their agenda might be, is important. What underling themes and messages is she being exposed to? Who is the intended audience for this book? One great thing about the Web is that you can look up the author’s website and check them out.
We will continue to struggle with a balance but some of my greatest memories were of reading books that I wasn’t suppose to. I also have to encourage her exploration of various topics and remember that this is a kid who loves reading Calvin and Hobbes.
Link to tips for picking books Books
I went through this myself in elementary school. As a fifth grader reading at a 12th grade level, I quickly grew past most of the books at my school library. Luckily, they had one cart of real literature in a back room, and I found a whole new world in Agatha Christie mysteries and classic adventure books – Robinson Crusoe, 200000 Leagues Under the Sea, Treasure Island, etc. As they were much less abstract than other literature, they didn’t have many inappropriate themes.
I can’t speak as a parent, but at that time when I picked The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn at our free RIF book fair, the school librarian made me choose another book (apparently she deemed it too advanced, either in difficulty or in subject matter). This INFURIATED me and I will always be very wary of over censoring the literature that children are allowed to read.
By: miyagisan on July 8, 2008
at 8:54 am
Hi Miyagisan,
As Morgan’s father, I don’t want to over-censor her reading. A lot of books at the 5th grade level are all about the angst of being a ‘tweener for which Morgan has no context or interest.
I remember all too well myself how infuriating it was to be kept from the good books. I was chided back into the young adult books (e.g. children’s area) on several occasions at my public library. Even after I was officially allowed into the adult section, my mother tried to censor what I was reading which failed due to her inability to keep up with my reading and her absolute lack of interest in my books (science fiction and adventure
We’ll not make those same mistakes with Morgan – it’s more about helping her find books that she likes that are also at her reading level.
Cheers,
Wm
By: whayes on July 8, 2008
at 9:21 am