Last week, Eliana was bumped up from level 18 to level 28 in reading. From what I have been told this means that she is now reading at a beginning 3rd grade level. Sounds great, right? Parents dream of having a 5 year old who reads like an 8 year old, right?
Well, I am proud of her.
But there are two problems. The first is with class time. I know her teacher does her best to let each kid be who s/he is and learn what s/he needs to be learning. But it's just not feasible in a group setting to really be able to meet the needs of a kid who is reading 3 grade levels above the average. Add the boredom that you'd expect in this situation, to a child that is spirited and does not handle boredom well, and you have a recipe for misbehavior. Nothing bad like hurting other people, just finding ways to entertain herself, but still not the conformity that is expected at school.
The second is with the books she is bringing home that are level 28. Our first two were called "Best Enemies Again" and "Encyclofacts". She can read them just fine, I think the level is appropriate for the actual decoding of words, but the issue is with meaning. The former is about a girl, probably about 8 or 9, who has a classmate that likes to make her life miserable. She can't relate (and I don't particularly want my 5 year old to learn cattiness until she has to anyway). The second is a science book. Neither interests her, and combined with the 10 level jump (from picture books to text-everywhere chapter books) she is suddenly saying "I don't want to read." Never heard THAT before. In addition, while she can understand each sentence well, she is having trouble deducing greater meaning. She understands "People figured out that when they put an engine on a glider it could fly longer" and "After that, they built airplanes a lot more than they built gliders" but wouldn't be able to say after reading those two sentences "Oh, an airplane is basically a glider with an engine." So we're having some issues with content at level 28 - the kid's smart, but obviously her decoding is outpacing her understanding of the material.
Anyone want to start writing children's books for advanced readers with age-appropriate content?
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If you take her to the library, can she choose appropriate books for herself? It might take a little exploring on her part, but it also might yield good books that she enjoys.
ReplyDeleteKate, my idea is to work with the teacher so that I can go through the level 28 books and choose some for her. She reads books on her own that are ours or from the library, but they are usually easy for her, and the level 28 has the right balance of easy/hard to help her both succeed and progress. So, yes, we do that, but I also want to stick with the school's "home reading program".
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