kept choosing books based on age instead of ability. Some books were too challenging. Others were too simple and didn’t hold attention. Reading time became frustrating. I began choosing books by watching her reaction on the first page. If she looked confused or tired, it wasn’t the right book. If she read easily but stayed engaged, we used that book. Once we focused on comfort and interest, reading went smoother. How do you pick books that are not too easy and not too hard?
by Effective_Lab_9914
5 Comments
I always opted for books that were too hard. Reading time in my house was always about enjoying time together so I read to my daughter till she was about 12. She’s now 19 and a ferocious reader.
If you are worried that he/she isn’t picking it up fast enough please tap the brakes. It will happen when the kid is ready. Just like potty training. It’s a developmental thing not a you push them thing.
Enjoy this time together.
Does she know phonics or does she mostly sight read? Phonics are very important
What you want to find are books with a premise that interests her and a vocabulary level that is a bit challenging. It would be best to teach her to try and figure out what a word might mean from the context, and then to look it up and see if she was close or way off base. And if looking up a word leads to looking up (on Wikipedia or something) more details…
The plot or characters need to appeal to her enough to tackle the vocabulary she isn’t familiar with. If you make researching and learning fun, if it enriches the story for her, you will be giving her a skill she employs for the rest of her life. Praise her for learning new words on her own. Let her explain them to you, so she can show off. Make it something she can feel proud of, with a sense of accomplishment. Children need to be encouraged, challenged, and then made to feel good about levelling up their intelligence. They can’t/won’t do that if you don’t give them some gentle pushing.
I’d also suggest asking a librarian for some children’s classic novels. You’d be surprised at the reading level of older books written specifically for children. They do not dumb things down, they have rich vocabularies, and they also will introduce her to more complex sentence structures. Older styles of vocabulary and sentence structures are what make reading classics in school so frustrating or “boring” (which really means, they can’t figure it out, and they can’t be bothered to try) when they are assigned reading in middle/high school. The earlier they become comfortable with these things, the better, and the comfort will stick with them all their lives.
If she’s having some trouble with the language at the start, try reading some of it out loud to her. A lot of unfamiliar language/punctuation makes much more sense when you hear it out loud. The rhythms, the cadences, the rising and falling of tones, and the pauses – it’s much like music, but you need to identify where the beats happen so that the emotions tie in with the words.
Many children’s classics have been made into movies, which can show her things she is unfamiliar with, and give her images to go with the words. Or you can get the audiobooks and let her read along with them, if reading out loud to her isn’t something you’re good at doing.
When I was a kid I went to the library and picked books for myself, that’s probably a good idea
The classic 5-finger test! Open the book to a random page. Ask her to put down a finger every time she hears/reads a word she doesn’t know. If all 5 fingers are down by the end of the page, it’s too hard. If no fingers are down, it’s probably too easy. You’re shooting for about 2 new words per page to discuss the meaning or look up.