feedback for "Dispatch: All in the Timing"
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Hear hear. My four-year old CAN read stuff for 10 year olds but she is hardly ready. Even some of the antics of Frog and Toad can confuse her. This is why we don't just look at reading level but at comprehension too. And having a baby sister means she has access to a range of books from board books with one word per page to early chapter books. Fluent literacy includes the ability to enjoy a wide range of literature for a wide range of reasons. "Reading" the meaning in pictures is just as important as reading words.
posted by : Shannon LC Cate on 6/8/2009 at 12:23 PM Flag For Abuse
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I didn't know that this was an issue at all. I went into kindergarten knowing how to read and do math, which resulted in the problem of my being bored and causing a disturbance in class (a lot). The school had me see a shrink (and I didn't find out why I got to talk to this guy and draw pictures for him during school until I was in my twenties). Pretty much my parents found out that I was bored and wanted a sibling (which I got tw years later). This was in 1986. I wonder what my kid would go through now.
My parents pretty much never paid attention that what my sister and I read. We were just expected to read. Thankfully, their not making a big deal about our choices resulted in both my sister and having a strong love of reading. Though, now I look back and am amazed by some of the stuff that my parents never even blined an eye at like ridiculously violent comics I read when I was twelve and still having a love of children's picture books or my discovery of Orwell after hearing an interview about Animal Farm and deciding to check it out on my own.
posted by : Shana on 6/8/2009 at 12:29 PM Flag For Abuse
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Too often parents confuse a skill or intelligence children possess with wisdom or maturity. Just because a child of 5 can read a 6th grade book does not mean they can comprehend the subject matter or emotionally process the story. Even child prodigies have to grow emotionally over time and acquire wisdom through experience. They are not little adults trapped in small bodies. Parents who think their kid can comprehend beyond their emotional age are too often displaying their own ignorance for all of the world to see.
posted by : Ali on 6/8/2009 at 12:31 PM Flag For Abuse
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I, for one, was one of those very early readers. I, too, went through a stage in which I thought it was the height of cool to read books way beyond my comprehension or interest level, just because adults who saw me at it would ooo and aaah over my "brilliance." Thankfully, my parents were very casual about my reading, whether it was Jane Eyre at age seven, or picture books at age twelve. They encouraged reading, and never acted overly impressed if I decided to take on a book which would have been considered very advanced by most. Because of this, I grew out of the show-off stage quickly, and settled into reading whatever caught and held my interest. I can now say I have been a lifelong, avid reader, thanks to my parents making books available, and resisting the urge to judge something as "too old" or "too young."
As an aside, I dearly hope I never grow out of reading children's books. I am thirty-four years old now, and settled down just the other day with The Winnie-the-Pooh Storybook Treasury...and just as I have every other time I've read it, I adored it.
posted by : puasamanda on 6/8/2009 at 1:13 PM Flag For Abuse
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I used to be a substitute teacher and at the elementary schools at which I worked, the books in the library were color-coded by reading level. The students would take tests on the computer that would determine what "color" they should read. This meant that a lot of kids would pass up books that they might otherwise have been interested in based on the fact that they were either above or below their color. It also became a status issue. I get that they were trying to steer the kids to books at their reading level, but that meant that many books ended up being dismissed out of hand.
posted by : Amanda B on 6/8/2009 at 1:33 PM Flag For Abuse
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So what you're saying is that I need to let my 3 y/o bring home the books that I can't stand to read aloud because they're so obnoxious, since he loves the pictures so much? Ugh. Maybe I'll pretend that I never read this piece. =)
What a fantastic article! I loved it. I've read many books in my time that I just wasn't ready for in a broad sense, though I could read the words on the page just fine. This has happened in my teens and even early 20's; it's only when I've revisited the books that I've discovered what I missed the first time. Even with these "too old" books, though, I learned and was exposed to so many different things. At the very least, I can (generally) put a sentence together, with correct spelling and punctuation. =) My parents gave me great freedom in what I read (though they tried to keep "junk" like Sweet Valley Twins and R.L.Stine to a minimum, at least!), which was just fantastic. And regarding adults and coffee table books: How many adults still get pleasure from comics like Calvin & Hobbes, which I also enjoyed as a kid? If we allow ourselves the same freedom to read "below us," why not our children too?
Amanda B, that "color-coding" is so sad and terrible! Remind me to never do that to my own children, and to give them free rein instead!
posted by : ChiLaura on 6/8/2009 at 3:27 PM Flag For Abuse
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I learned to read when I was 3, and when I was in the first grade the school psychologist tested me and informed my mother I was reading at what she described as a 12th grade reading level (when she told my mother this she made it sound I had a terminal disease, and demanded to know what my mom was going to "do about it.") Fortunately, my parents did nothing other than what they were already doing -- buy me lots of books of my own choosing and take me to the library once a week to check out even more. I read picture books and chapter books at the same time, and tended to find books geared toward young adults and adults "boring." Well-meaning elementary school teachers were always trying to encourage me to read the classics, but the only classics I was willing to read were the ones I discovered on my own (Alice in Wonderland and The Wind in the Willows, both of which I love to this day).
However, I don't think there's anything wrong with occasionally recommending books that are beyond your child's reading level, as long as those books are well chosen with your particular child's interests and emotional maturity in mind (and as long as there is no pressure). Everyone, young and old, should occasionally read/eat/do things that are outside their comfort zone. When my husband was a kid his dad bought a unicycle at a garage sale and sent him outside, challenging him not to come back in until he learned to ride it (obviously this was not a serious challenge, he just knew his very athletic kid and was confident he'd have no difficulty pulling it off). The result? He very quickly figured out how to ride a unicycle and can ride them to this day. Everything's beyond you right up until that point when it isn't. The trick is not to be pushy or judgemental (those color coded labels sound horrible!) and to ultimately defer to your kid's interests and abilities.
posted by : Jeanette Braun on 6/8/2009 at 3:54 PM Flag For Abuse
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I couldn't agree more! I was a voracious reader as a kid and my dad encouraged this by bringing home literally bags of books from our local library, which he visited several times a week on his lunch hour. Although I was never restricted on anything I read (and later, I'm sure my choices raised some eyebrows) I realize now that Dad's library trips were also his way of subtly steering me towards better and more appropriate kid's lit than I would have chosen for myself. When I was ready for chapter books, he introduced me o Black Beauty, Old Yellow, Charlotte's Web and dozens of other greats that we read together every night before bed until I was nearly in my teens. I now visit the library regularly with my 3 year old and while he chooses a few books for himself (based almost entirely on their covers), I'm also gathering arm loads that I can't wait to read to him when we get home.
posted by : terram on 6/8/2009 at 4:37 PM Flag For Abuse
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I agree that some books have a right "time" to read them - I tackled Moby Dick in 9th grade, and although I could understand all the words, I tossed it aside then, wondering what all the fuss was about. In my thirties, I have a very different perspective on it now.
But I also still love my favorite children's books. My husband and I read "Goodnight, Gorilla"; "Guess How Much I Love You" and "The Boy Who Saved the Stars" to each other in bed at night long before we even had thoughts of children, and I still savor them, on my own, every once in a while. I hope your son will always be able to cherish his childhood reads, as you do, even as he moves on to new ones.
posted by : leahsmom on 6/8/2009 at 4:58 PM Flag For Abuse
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Thank you, thank you, thank you! I actually read very very late by today's standards, I could not fully read until I was probably in 5th grade, however almost as soon as I learned to read I could read at a college level. So I read all sorts of books no child ever should, every so called "classic" before I even got into high school. This was because my public school library did not have the Hobbit or Alice in Wonderland or any of the classic children's books. Instead my public school library had young adult fiction or books like Catcher in the Rye. Books such as Catcher in the Rye, A Brave New World and 1984 where also what we read in high school English class. In my opinion it is a real shame that teenagers are forced to read the "classics" in high school. Although I had reached the level of maturity to understand these books and truly appreciate them many of my peers could not, it also probably did not help that our classes tested us on stupid little details rather then the overall point of these novels. They still remain my favorites but I think I will keep some adult books hidden from my daughter until she reaches the intellectual level where she can really gain something from reading them. Also one of my pet peeves is students being forced to read Shakespeare in class (in my case middle school). Shakespeare was meant to be watched, not read.
posted by : Brooke Johnson on 6/9/2009 at 12:41 AM Flag For Abuse
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Those color coded/"reading-level" books are fine only in as much as they can help identify the child who is struggling to keep up with grade level and might need tutoring. Otherwise? Blah. My step-daughter hated to read while she was stuck in that world. Now she's 13 and reads whatever she likes (she's currently a Twilight nut). My 8 year old step-son likes Dr. Suess. My 3 year old is a huge Llama,Llama fan, as well as the Marley books. He also still has his board books and likes to "read" them to us. He tells a story based on his perception of the pictures, or his memory of the actual story. I love to see what he makes up! For him books are toys, and I sincerely believe that toys are the tools of childhood. I have faith that because he has always had books available to him and is read to on demand that he will love reading. I always wanted my kids to enjoy reading as much as I did: I was one of those 7 year olds reading on an 8th grade level. I liked the Little House series, and every biography I could get my hands on. It was wonderful to be able to explore those worlds at my leisure. I started school at 4 because I pestered my mother incessantly to teach me to read, and she didn't know where to start. My sister on the other hand hated reading as a child due to dyslexia. Once diagnosed and with trained help, she caught up and now reads voraciously. My mother is never without a book in her bag. It's a culture to raise a child in as much as the child's choice - what you expose a child to will be a big part of their world. I'm so glad to see so many exposing their kids to books!
posted by : bookworm momma on 6/9/2009 at 3:11 AM Flag For Abuse
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I read really early too because I liked the praise from grown-ups when they saw me reading grown-up books. Some I enjoyed but most of them just went right over my head and then later I would say "I already read that" when someone suggested Little Women or Jane Eyre or something. It took me a long time to catch up and REALLY read all those books later.
posted by : ellalala on 6/9/2009 at 9:17 AM Flag For Abuse
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Oh my goodness, I remember I went to an elementary school that had a library with color-coded dot books. I only went there for a few weeks(staying with my grandma in CA for a while) and it's a good thing because it was awful. I tested 'black dot' which was the highest. Guess how many books in the school library had a black dot? 2. One was the unabridged version of little women. I loved to read, but I think that was the only book I brought home to read. Reading at 'your level' was highly encouraged. I was the only kid I knew who was black dot, all the other kids had plenty to read. I hadn't thought about that in a while!
posted by : bluetreeze on 6/9/2009 at 9:44 AM Flag For Abuse
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I was an early reader, so I missed out on a lot of great picture books that I'm really enjoying sharing with my daughter. I was supposedly so advanced, but I loved junk like The Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley High, and this ballet series called Silver Slippers. My parents were disappointed, but oh well--I read what I loved.
I completely agree that you'll miss out on some great stuff if you pay too much attention to labels. The library in my old town shelved the YA stuff with the regular fiction, so I'd pick one up once in a while if it looked interesting. I never would have gone into a YA section, so I definitely would have missed some good entertainment.
posted by : Jen C on 6/9/2009 at 10:31 AM Flag For Abuse
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I love Children's books. I even took a Children's Literature class in college. It was amazing. I reread my favorites at times. Sometimes I think that good children's books are so amazing because they have to streamline characters and storylines, and so present a good story in a clean, concentrated form. I was also a precocious reader, starting at age 3. My parents read all the Suess books to us, but also Tolkien. I was a free-ranging devourer of books, and I would wander the children's section of the library partaking wherever my interest fell, never mind the age reccomendations. In 2nd grade, I walked into a library filled with paper cranes and was told that the book that inspired the cranes, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes was being read by the 6th graders and was too hard for me. I insisted on reading it. It wasn't too hard, although perhaps a bit serious for a 6 year old. Although a bit early, I still took the message of compassion and the importance of remembering the human side of history with me. Still, some books can be too mature for young readers. By 6th grade I was reading adult science fiction, and nobody thought for a moment about the inappropriate sexual content of what I was reading. Luckily, as an adult I rediscovered children's books (by working amongst them for two years at a bookstore), and will always encourage my boys to find good stories wherever they may be.
I agree on Bridge to Terabithia though, it's too much for 2nd grade.
posted by : Marj on 6/9/2009 at 11:56 AM Flag For Abuse
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My 1st grade son goes to a school whose librarian uses the color-code system. My son was pleased to inform me that he is now a "red dot." I had no idea what he was talking about; when I was a kid we were allowed to pick any book we wanted from the school library.
It seems, though, the librarian uses it more as a tool to help her steer the kids to an appropriate level book. (I guess 2 librarians for 500 kids in grades preK-8 need some sort of system for recommending books.) So, for example, if my son is all spacey and having trouble picking out a book, the librarian would start with "red dot" books. This doesn't mean he is limited to only "red dot" books, but in a library that serves such a broad age range, it provides him with a logical place to start looking for books.
My husband and I are voracious readers. It was not surprising that our son picked up the habit and is reading above grade level. While I have always encouraged him to read books, he has always been most impressed with his father's comic book collection. As soon as he could vocalize a story preference at bedtime, our son was requesting comics.
Despite a surprising amount of negativity from educators and grandparents regarding our child's penchant for comics, we continue to let him read them. It is his love of reading comics (pictures! words! action!) which I credit for his current reading level. Reading is reading, and as long as my kid is happy doing it, we're good to go.
posted by : mompdx on 6/9/2009 at 1:32 PM Flag For Abuse
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I started reading right after I turned 4, and while I read my share of "grown-up" books like The Hobbit, when I was in kindergarten, I continued to read books like The Bernstein Bears and Dr. Seuss and later Nancy Drew and The Babysitter's Club and Animorphs (embarrassing as those last few are, I read them well into my high school years) - I was content reading anything I could get my hands on. My parents let me read whatever I wanted as long as it didn't deal with age-inappropriate development-type sexual issues. Having a vivid imagination, though, I preferred books with no pictures, because pictures "spoiled" some of the fun of reading for me. Some of my favorite books to read and reread as a kid were the Little House on the Prairie series, the Ramona Quimby books, and Andrew Lang's Fairy Books (Blue Fairy, Red Fairy, Green Fairy, etc)., but I also loved "heavy-hitters" like 1984, and Fahrenheit 411 because, at age 10, I had the emotional maturity of someone in their late teens (according to the school counselors and two different therapists - see mom and dad, there wasn't anything wrong me! I was just different!).
My biggest "problem" was that I read too quickly - our elementary school went up to fourth grade, and I'd essentially run out of new books in the library by the time I was in third grade. I had to start checking out books at the public library (which didn't bother me at all - I loved going into the adult section upstairs... I felt special!)
Now that I'm an adult, I'm rediscovering the joy of reading by revisiting so many of the books that comforted me as a child - and it makes the books that much more enjoyable to read because I have such strong memories and emotions tied to each one.
posted by : stifled stranger on 6/9/2009 at 2:35 PM Flag For Abuse
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mompdx - these educators you are talking to are full of it. They are worlds apart from the librarians and teachers I am meeting. Comics are actually one of the hottest trends in the current discussion around childhood literacy. Many schools are adding comics to their stacks. There are constantly articles in trades about incorporating comics into library collections and classroom syllabi.
And educators often hope they will entice reluctant readers.
I listen to grandparents about a lot of things, but never about literarcy. They raised children in a different time when the available materials were very different. Plus, my mother already rolls her eyes at my comic book collection.
There are also lots of great comics also for kids if anyone is worried that their copy of the The Dark Knight, Watchmen or Blankets may be a bit too much for a small child. A good children's librarian or comic book dealer may be able to help.
posted by : beeker on 6/9/2009 at 5:36 PM Flag For Abuse
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beeker--
I totally agree, and while I haven't let the oldest know much about Civil War, long before Secret Invasion he could identify Skrulls.
His father has been reading comics since he was a kid, and has a collection to prove it. I really only read Spider-man titles growing up (sporadically though, I actually hated pictures in books back then), but we do have a fairly good idea of what the kid can handle, without resorting to "kid" comics. The last month or two he has been all about the Marvel Handbooks--every night from his room at bedtime you can hear him reading aloud the names of all of the Marvel characters (in alphabetical order) and then his father explaining the history and evolution of the character.
Interestingly, my second son, who is 2 years younger, shows no interest in comics beyond the Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures put out by Dark Horse about 5 years ago. My second is 4 y/o, and we read these together. The books are done in the Cartoon Network style, but do involve explosions, non-graphic violence and references to death. I would highly recommend this series, particularly for a child around 7-8 y/o who already has some familiarity with the Star Wars saga.
I personally loved the Avenger Fairy Tales. Basically Marvel took a traditional story, like Peter Pan, and rewrote it using Avengers characters, usually as young kids. The art is done in a more painterly style (think flowers and fairies and watercolors), rather than the more graphic style we have come to associate with modern comics. Honestly, my boys looked at it and called it "girly" so I wouldn't expect handing this title over to an 11 y/o boy is going to ignite much interest in reading, but a 10 y/o girl would probably love it.
posted by : mompdx on 6/10/2009 at 1:32 PM Flag For Abuse
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Maria Salvadore had interesting observations at her Reading Rockets blog Page by Page recently (http://www.readingrockets.org/blog/31836) in a post titled "Listening to kids talk about books" ....throughout this debate we would all do well to listen to the children/youth more often.
posted by : Rasco from RIF on 6/13/2009 at 3:10 PM Flag For Abuse
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Thank You Thank You for writing this. I was one of those early readers too. Thankfully my parents were never the type to push me into books to old for me. My grandmother won my heart with amazing nursery rhymes and fairy tales that I can no longer find. My mom ordered books for me every month from scholastic that I devoured in days, and my step-mother introduced me to classics like "My Friend Flicka", "Black Beauty", "The Secret Garden", and so many others. My teachers however were much different. We had the color coding system when I was in middle school and I consistently tested at the 12+grade level. When I wanted to be reading Harry Potter the teachers were encouraging Wuthering Heights and Grapes of Wrath. I scored well on the tests so I must have comprehended something, but the lessons didn't stick for long because I was to young to understand. Now at 20 I read what I want when I want. Sometimes I feel a little silly venturing into the kid section to get my fantasy kick, but hey, I want reading to continue to be a joy for me for a long time to come.
posted by : avid reader on 6/16/2009 at 12:20 PM Flag For Abuse
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As an eighth grade English teacher I was thrilled to read this article. I'm so tired of parents pushing their kids to read books they are not ready for. Always asking "which classics do you recommend?" And they mean To Kill a Mockingbird, not A Wrinkle i Time which I find much more age appropriate. I'm always trying to tell people, "Just because a child can read the words, it doesn't mean the book is right for him/her right now."
Research shows that readers improve by reading LOTS at a level they are comfortable with. Not to say that you shouldn't take on a challenge here and there, but as someone commented above, it should be in an area the child is passionate about. I will keep this article in my files for parents in the future. Thank you!
posted by : teacher on 7/10/2009 at 10:48 PM Flag For Abuse
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This is a great article because my husband and I have always felt that reading, especially independent reading, should be for enjoyment, not to show off. My kindergartner said to me the other day when we were at the library trying to find some good reads, "Just because I can read third grade books doesn't mean I am a bookworm." When she does read, she prefers to read parable/fable/sweet/cute picture books and American Girl's Mini Mystery series with gentle plots.It's also worthy to note that my first daughter's recommended reading list from her enrichment classmates consisted of books that were at grade level. Not one Harry Potter was mentioned as a favorite of the 12 kids listed. Phew! I thought my daughter was the only second grader who didn't take interest in its wizardry.
posted by : tipytop on 7/17/2009 at 4:22 PM Flag For Abuse
